


Silent Retreat

by PentoPaperWriter



Category: Castle
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-28
Updated: 2018-01-14
Packaged: 2018-10-12 02:30:32
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 40
Words: 79,747
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10480074
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PentoPaperWriter/pseuds/PentoPaperWriter
Summary: Mike Royce had fallen into the lure of money. Kate had lost all faith in him even if she did love him. When he died she went after his killer with a vengeance. The problem with her being so focused on his murder had been noticed by someone who wanted her for her skills, for evil. Someone who was on the wrong side of law and order, someone who'd never stop to get what he wanted.





	1. Chapter 1

Los Angles. The City of Angles. Due to popular belief, this city is not filled with angles like everyone thinks. Quite the opposite is the case. Gangs have had a foothold in this city since before the 1920's. Sure back then it was more of a civil war of sorts dealing with protesters who wanted a better life and demanded to be treated equally. While the people who lost their lives to those early protests had been few, it set the city on a path that would only increase those deaths in the coming years.

The mob was the first to see the potential of Los Angles. They had set up shop in the late 40's and as time went by they started to branch out into the middle-class neighborhoods. They peddled everything from women to the early introduction of the drug trade.

The sixties were a turbulent time for LA. The Watts Riots had set the stage for relations between the citizens of LA and the police to only become more stained. All in all, LA was starting to be sectioned off and claimed by various gangs as their own territory. As with the need for newer technology became dominant, so did the creation of a newer different type of drug. A designer drug if you will. Easily obtained and relatively inexpensive. Crack cocaine was now quickly overtaking the population of the poor and the rich neither was spared. South central LA had once been a prosperous area. Since the influx of the Mexican and South American immigrants into the area had been massive, they settled for taking the most basic jobs, thus lowering the rate of pay they received. South central LA was now seeing a drop in employment and a rise in major crimes.

In the 80's LA saw an increase in gangs that popped up out of thin air. The Crips and the Bloods were the two major gangs at war with each other at the time. Most of the unknown gangs were members who wanted a bigger piece of the drug trade knowing that it was easy to be had if they started their own gangs. Drugs were dealt with little prosecution from the law. and the ones that were caught and tried usually spent only a short time incarcerated. It was as if they could care less about being caught selling what they offered. Doing time to them was part of the business. If they were confronted by a member of a rival gang, all either a Crip or Blood member had to do to make his point known was to show his handgun and threaten that he was not afraid to use it. The same went for the police. They were fearless.

When he was growing up he like any other young boy wanted to be so many things. Cowboy, Fireman, Astronaut, Fighter Pilot the list was endless. As he grew into adolescence he realized that where he lived those dreams were not to become a reality. He never lost hope, though. That was until his foster mother and father were brutally murdered when he was 13. He lived with them in Hawthorne. A part of South Central LA. A decent neighborhood, but ever since the gangs had moved in and taken the area as their own, life had changed. He still went to high school which was about 3 blocks from where he lived. He hated the walk. He was always approached by a gang member on the way to school or on the way back home asking or rather persuading him to become one of them. At first, he brushed them off and his resistance to their requests usually ended up with him arriving at school with more than the threat. He'd been given a reminder that he was to join or else. His first beat down resulted in a busted lip and a broken nose. Mild for the type of gang he was dealing with. Time went on and the beatings had become more intense. Usually two or three a week. He had just started to recuperate from the first beating and they would be at it again a day later. Since he was now alone, Child Protective Services had stepped in when the school's principal had informed them about the condition he arrived in for the school day. At first, they thought that he was being abused by his foster parents. He would in no way tell them that they were killed because of the gangs that infested his neighborhood it would automatically get him back in the system to be placed with another set of foster parents. The fact that CPS had not picked up on his foster parents being murdered was in his favor. He could say that the system had lost track of him and then he fell through the cracks in that system. And he liked that he did. He would be 14 soon and he had the street smarts to survive in his element.

He had the resources to get by with the cash that his foster parents had hidden. He knew where they had placed most of it around the house probably to protect either him from knowing its location or to keep it safe from the criminal element. Either way, the cash he would not last forever. He had enough to keep the lights on and bills paid for about six months at best. He was resourceful for a kid. Being raised in south central had taught you that. The beatings had continued even with changing his route to school. They were determined to get him into their gang. Knowing that if he did join he'd never leave alive. He was able to find a job through a program that the school had sponsored. He worked for just above the minimum wage. He was able to keep living at the house on West 129th street in Hawthorne. He would not be able to go to college after he graduated next year, but that was okay. He had ambitions and after he left high school and then he would put his plan into effect. Ambitions that would make him very, very wealthy. The gangs had slowed their attacks in recent years after he had the balls to fight back one afternoon while walking home from school.

"Gringo, won't you ever learn? You'll eventually become one of us." The first gang member told him.

"Yeah, come on there's no need for you to get beat up every other day." Said the other gang member as he came down with a solid right hook to his face.

He looked through his now swelling right eye at his attackers and told himself that enough was enough. He landed a roundhouse kick to the second gang members head knocking him backward and falling on his back, knocking the air from his lungs. As he tried to regain his own breath, he faced the first gang member and struck a jab to his throat almost crushing his windpipe. As he bent over trying to breathe again, he raised his knee to his head. Caught unaware by this sequence of moves the gang member lost consciousness immediately. He walked away and headed home. He had had enough. Three years now and you think they'd get the message. He was going to make it out of this place alive.

Graduation day for him was a dismal affair. He had no one sitting in the swarm of parents that he could call his own. Of all the homes he had been bounced around to when he was younger, the Grabowski's were by far his favorites. It's a shame that they were killed after seeing something they shouldn't have. After walking up and receiving his diploma, he shook the principal's hand and then shook the hand of their special guest of honor the Mayor of Los Angles James Hahn. When he walked the steps down from the stage he was done. Nothing would stop him now from reaching his goals.

For all the hell he went through avoiding the gangs in the earlier part of his life he would never question the path his life had taken when he graduated high school. He was an adviser of sorts. And now that he had built something so profitable that he was placed in a position of power. He held all the cards and for the most part, no law enforcement agency had connected him to any of it. He had created a network of guns for hire. That was his main specialty. Since that had paid him so well he branched out in finding the impossible items that people wanted him to acquire. This ranged from high explosives to priceless works of art and other hard to get items. Of course, the client had paid him handsomely for his efforts, only further increasing his wealth.

This is why he could not pass up the request from one of his clients to obtain a certain type of ammunition. At first, he did not believe the request. There was no way that a company had developed a dissolvable, traceless kind of bullet. That was until he did a lot of research on the topic. What he found amazed him to no end. He would get this type of ammunition and in the process, reward himself with some of it for his personal use. The applications were unlimited. He pulled off the first theft with ease. Lax security and a quick getaway made it possible for him to abscond with 7 cases of 9-millimeter rounds and 3 cases of .40 caliber rounds. Seeing each case of 50 rounds sold to the highest bidder he noticed that the product was now in high demand. So, he decided to return back to the company that made them he did so with the intention and planning that after the first theft they would strengthen their security.

He was almost home free until he was spotted by a woman as he left. Not wanting to give chase due to his recently acquired reward he quickly stored the ammunition in the back of the stolen van for later retrieval. He searched for this woman and since she only had a short head start on him it was easy to find out where she went and who she was. Knowing where she lived it was now time to eliminate one Violet Young. He would use the newly acquired dissolvable bullets so no trace of her death could be tied to him. No, Russell Ganz was no fool. He'd do everything in his power to protect his empire, including murder.

A/N: This story will not be a story that I will be able to post a chapter for every Sunday, but I will try. I do apologize in advance. With three open fics and a full-time job sometimes it's hard to post on time. If this story is something you want to read more of then please send me a PM or leave a review. Thanks for reading what I post here!

A/N:2 The summary is not really the best way to describe this story, I really am that bad at writing them! But this should be an interesting tale to tell. So come on in sit a while and read.

P2P


	2. Chapter 2

Violet Young was running out of options. She was scared shitless at what she had seen and what could happen to her. While she was on her run past the headquarters of Kelvin North America she had made the mistake of running past the rear of the building near the shipping and receiving area. It was a short cut that would result in her fearing for her life. As she ran through she took note of the door that was ajar. Slowing her run to a quick walk she started to move towards the door her curiosity now piqued. Just as she was about to reach out for the door handle to open the door, she was met with a man exiting said door in a hurry. He was carrying 2 large crates. She looked into his eyes and what she noticed was the fact that his eyes were cold and unforgiving. This is the point when she thought that this man would stop at nothing to get to her.

Xx

Mike Royce was at his favorite sports bar. He was so totally into the Dodgers game since it was the bottom of the 4th and they had the lead by one run so much so that he never heard his phone ring. Well, the noise in the bar sure did not help either. Just as he left the men's restroom he heard it ring again. Swiping to answer it, he brings it to his ear and he's met with a frantic woman's voice on the other end. The voice is one that he's not familiar with so he tries to calm her down.

"Wait a minute sweetheart. Slow down and take a breath, okay?"

"Okay! But you don't understand he's going to kill me.!"

"Who is?"

"It's a long story. Can we meet somewhere?"

Royce was never one who'd turn anybody away who needed help. So, he reluctantly agreed to meet this woman.

"Okay, but first what's your name?"

"It's Violet, Violet Young."

"Violet, there's a diner in LA off South Main Street called The Nickle Diner. But since you feel your life is in danger use the alley entrance off East 5th Street. Werdin Place is the name of the alleyway that leads to the rear entrance."

"What time?"

Royce takes a look at his watch and tells her to meet him at 10 pm.

He has time so he does a search for Violet Young. He finds out that she is an aspiring actress, and she has been in a "B" movie. He wonders why she thinks her life is in danger. He heads out to the diner because a little advance surveillance time would never hurt. As he parks his Challenger he notices nothing out of the ordinary. He enters the diner and takes a booth looking towards the door and windows. He scans the crowd for any threats. When the waitress comes over he orders a coffee, black.

Xx

Violet got his number from a friend who he'd helped recently. He was a man who always looked out for people, that's what made her call him for his help. She walked along the route he had told her about on the telephone. She turns down the alley and then finds the back door to the diner and enters. She sees him sitting at a booth. Sliding in opposite him she greets him.

"Mr. Royce?"

"Yeah kid, that's me."

"I'm in trouble."

"Alright, let's start with this trouble. Why do think this?"

Violet told Mike what happened when she was on her run and he had heard of Ganz because honestly, this could be only him. Calvin North America was a top military defense contractor. Ganz was ruthless and would stop at nothing to kill her for what she had witnessed. Knowing that he would stop at nothing he pulled his phone out and searched for a flight to JFK. Finding a flight that left at midnight they would be in New York around 8 am the next morning. Then he did not look forward to the next call he needed to make. She was still his first number on his speed dial knowing that she'd be sleeping. He hit the send icon and it rang. After two rings it went to voicemail so he left her one.

He and Violet left the diner for her place if they were going to make the flight in time. She packed quickly and they were speeding down the 110 and since it was late they made it to the airport in no time.

Xx

Kate had just come back from her run and was getting a bottle of water from the fridge when her phone chimed with a voicemail alert. Picking it up she listened to the message.

"Hey kid, it's Royce. I know I got no right to ask, but I need your help. I just got back into town and the fires coming fast. Please, call me."

Kate withdrew the phone and as she did it rang.

"Royce?" She said.

"Beckett?" Her captain asked.

"Sir, what is it?"

"Beckett, I have bad news."

"Go on sir."

"Royce has been murdered. I'm sorry Kate."

"Where is he?"

"Kate listen, there's no reason for you to come out here. We can handle this."

"Sir, he was my T.O. I am going to investigate this!"

Against his better judgment, he gave her the address where Royce was found. He knew that she would never stop her from finding out who killed him. And this fact was unnerving. 

Xx

Ganz had taken the only operative he could think of that was not involved in a current contract. Mannis was just a little too overeager to go along, and because of this since he was one of his best assassins he knew that he could only use him as a driver. Only because he had a job coming up and he did not want the NYPD to catch wind of him killing Royce. So, he'd do it himself.

Royce was smart. He had somehow taken advantage of the fact that Ganz was looking for him and set a trap. But then again, he'd underestimated his opponent. When Ganz had cornered him in the back of a boarded-up dry cleaners shop he pulled a silenced 9 millimeter and shot him in the right leg. Royce managed to rush Ganz and knock him over and then he limped out of the store out the back door. Falling when he tripped on the uneven pavement, he started to drag himself towards the only hiding place he saw. He made it behind a dumpster and held his breath.

Ganz knew that Royce had nowhere to go. He went directly to the dumpster across the alley and found him. He raised his gun and aimed right at Royce's head as he turned to look at him. Then Ganz told him,

"You should have stayed out of this Royce."

"You have no idea the hell that's about to rain down on you."

Ganz replied with a one-word comment "Scary."

At that instant, Ganz just squeezed off a round and ended Mike Royce's life. He left the alley and met back up with Mannis. He thought as Mannis drove to the airport.

"Don, I need you to stay here in New York and find that bitch, Violet Young. I want her dead before I land in LA!"

"I'll make sure that happens." Mannis said through the open window then he left Ganz standing at the terminal at JFK.

A/N: The first two chapters were basically following cannon. From this point on this story becomes 100% A/U. 

P2P


	3. Chapter 3

If Richard Castle was good at any one thing in his life, it was the fact he could read anyone. The ordinary people that he met on the street or business contacts, he could read their facial features and could tell what they were thinking. It gave him an advantage having information like this. With people that he was involved with on a more personal level, well he could read that and so much more. He observed their facial looks and body movements and small nuances tells if you will. This was especially very helpful at times when he caught Alexis being not so truthful with him about a boy she liked. Yes, she was mature about it, and she wanted to pull one over on him but when she wanted to see him one night for a movie, she used the excuse of going to Paige's house to study he could tell by the way her voice changed, her eyes darted all over the room not looking directly at him, and her body was screaming that she wanted to be anywhere but in the room with him. Eventually, she broke down and told him the truth. He pulled her into a hug and told her as long as he met this new boy in her life, he was fine with her seeing him.

His ability although helpful at times, could also be a curse. He hated the fact that he knew what other people were thinking about doing, even before they did. Since he had become Kate Beckett's unpaid tag along and unofficial partner, she was hard to read at first. But since spending just about the last three years with her, he was able to read her better than anyone ever could…. even herself. He knew when she was sad, happy, pissed off, and when she was showing off her softer side towards him, even if they were far and few between. Of course, she'd deny this was the truth, the furthest from it. He guessed that she had kept her feelings close to the vest and walled off her heart emotionally.

As he and Roy talked at Mike Royce's crime scene just a few yards from them, they both turned when her car pulled up. Even before she got out of the car, Rick knew that she was invested in his death on another level. She walked up to them and said,

"Where is he?"

Rick knew at that moment without a doubt that Kate was or is still in love with Mike Royce. She might deny it, but when he looked at her it was written all over her face. When she noticed that he was reading her, she dropped her head donning her detective face almost immediately. Hiding her feelings away from him. Kate had two levels for Rick to read her by. Her first one was strictly about the job. For him when they were assigned a case they were in sync and he could read her so well. Though when it came to an emotional connection to something personal, well then he could really tell what she was thinking. Being able to read her on this level had taken him about two years. What he witnessed as she walked by was something that he was going to regret in the coming days. They watched as she knelt down and brushed his forehead lovingly and then she took note of the crime scene. When she was done Lanie gave her the rundown on how she thought Royce had died and that he left something for her and she handed it to her. Rising up she gave him one last look and turned away from him for the last time.

Rick knew that she was going to catch the son of a bitch that murdered Royce. He thought instead of fighting her, he would help her in any way he could. The one thing he wouldn't do was let her far from his sight. She walked past them without saying a word got in her car and left the crime scene. Rick just looked at Roy and he shrugged his shoulders.

"Come on Castle, I'll give you a ride back to the 12th."

As they drove back Rick had a nagging feeling that she was going to do something that would get her hurt or much worse. He only hoped that she was at the 12th when they got there. When Kate arrived back to the 12th, she asked what Ryan and Esposito had found out. They told her that they tracked down traffic cam footage and found out that their suspect was a Russell Ganz. Since Kate arrived back to the precinct before Castle, she did a quick search on Ganz and found out that he was responsible for a couple of petty crimes when he was younger and for about the last 6 years he had a spotless record. She wrote down his last known address, taken her jacket off the back of the chair, picked up her purse and walked out. When she got home she searched for flights to LA and found one that left at 6:35 am in the morning. She had about 6 hours to get ready for her trip. She was in full huntress mode now and nothing would stand in her way.

Xx

Donald Mannis was more than methodical when it came to finding out about a target. He sat in his car across from the NYPD's 12th precinct. He had observed the long-legged detective with the brunette hair at the crime scene and followed her. What he found out in a short amount of time from watching her was that she was ruthless in her pursuit of piecing together the clues and any other evidence that got her closer to finding out who killed the ex-cop. She was only at the precinct for about 15 minutes and when she left, so did he. He followed her to what he thought was her apartment. So, he waited. And in the time he waited, since she was most likely going to go to sleep, he called a contact here in New York that would guarantee a location for one Violet Young within two hours. Keeping an eye on the window of her apartment he watched as the last light went out. Just as it had, his cell phone rang. When he connected the call, he said nothing. He just listened to the information that was being relayed to him. When the caller hung up he put his phone away, started the car and drove to Brooklyn. Arriving at the address he was given he parked about a block away and got out on foot. He walked up to the front of the property at 871 55th street and just observed as he slowly walked around the front of the house. It was late and he'd use the darkness to his advantage. Sleeping people sometimes forgot to think that this world was still a safe place to live in. He checked the side windows and having no luck he went around the rear of the house. As he looked up at the first-floor window he found what he was looking for. It was extremely warm tonight and the portable fan wedged in the window could easily be overlooked by any homeowner as being safely secured. It wasn't. He slipped on a pair of gloves and pushed the window up with one hand while holding the fan from falling to the floor with the other. Placing it on the floor he climbed in through the open window. Letting his eyes adjust to the darkness he moved through the hallway. Seeing that all was quiet he carefully climbed the stairs to the second floor. There were three bedrooms and one bathroom. Checking the first two he found them empty. Removing his Sig P320 from his shoulder holster, he screws on a silencer and pushes the door open. His target is there on the bed sound asleep. He walks up and notices that she is not alone. What he sees tells him that she knows her bedmate. Maybe even intimately. Whatever it is he doesn't care. He'll just eliminate them both. Knowing that he could have an issue if he takes her out first, her mate might wake up if he hears the gunshot, so he decides to eliminate him first. Walking over to the other side of the bed, he positions himself for two quick head shots. Taking aim at the male he puts a bullet right in the center of his head. Quickly after that, he does the same with Violet. Her body spasms after the shot, but that swiftly subsides. He holsters his weapon after removing the silencer. Removing his smartphone from his pocket he takes a picture of Violet, now dead and attaches it to a text and sends it to Ganz fulfilling his promise from earlier.

30 seconds later Ganz replies and tells him to clear out and catch the next flight back to LA. Yeah, he'll do that and he will also tell him about a possible addition to the team in the form of one detective Beckett. Because from what he's seen she will be one hell of an adversary.


	4. Chapter 4

Donald Mannis knew when an opportunity had been shown to him. He had checked in early at JFK's Virgin ticket counter and he was granted instant access to their diamond members club lounge, as he should be. He spent so much time in the air he felt like he really had a home of sorts. So, when he traveled he always flew first class and this entitled him to the best seats and great food.

It's in this seat, seat 4A that his opportunity has been presented to him. His initial shock of seeing her actually walking down the aisle on the same flight has him lost for any kind of coherent thought. As she passes he watches as she stops not far from the divider between first class and coach. She looks at her boarding pass to confirm the seat number she has, and motions to the person already seated to get up so she can slide in. She sits and he figures her seat to be 10 E, the window seat.

Boarding continues until he hears the whirl of the front cabin door lock in place. He looks again at his still inactive phone. He'd taken the initiative after he first noticed her to send a text to Russ. He had asked him to keep his eye on him after Mannis told him of his strategy, one that could benefit their organization for the better. Ganz had agreed, but reluctantly. He told him that he would have a definite answer before he left JFK with his final decision about the issue.

Xx

When Kate walked out of the 12th precinct she had only one thing on her mind. Finding and killing the bastard that had killed the one person in her life that really knew her. Royce understood her to drive to find out who killed her mother and why. He knew that this was going to be the one thing that she'd never be able to let go of until the person or persons were six feet under. She also knew that she had fallen for him… hard. As usual and always the professional Royce knew that she was in love with him. He knew, but whatever happened between them would never result in them becoming romantic. She knew that he kept his distance due to the conversations they had together, the man had the restraint of a saint.

She had made it to JFK in no time. Traffic was lighter than she had planned for and passing through security with ease she sat near her gate waiting for it to board. She had just about finished her coffee when they started calling for the passengers who needed assistance boarding. First class passengers were called next and she got up from her seat and threw her coffee cup away and stood in the line knowing that her section would be called next. She boarded the plane checked her seat assignment with her boarding pass and found her seat. She was grateful that she had been able to get a seat on this flight due to it being an almost booked flight, but when she arrived at her seat her mood soured. She was sandwiched in with two of the largest men imaginable. She asked the man in the aisle and center seats if he could please let her sit in the window seat. Out of kindness, they had both decided to move over and let her sit in the window seat. New Yorkers she thought always amazing her.

Xx

Mannis turned and watched as she settled into the window seat. He had a good view of her to keep an eye on her during the flight. Not that she was going to be going anywhere for the next five and a half hours anyway. He feels the vibration of his cell phone in his jacket and turns forward in his seat. Pulling out the phone, he checks the text that he just received.

"Keep her in sight. If there is an opportunity to acquire her take it. Contact me when you get back to LA."

After he finishes the text it's deleted immediately. He has a green light, now he needs the right location to make his move. The first-class flight attendant stops by him asking if he wants something to drink and his preference for the in-flight meal. He tells her what he wants and she's off to the next passenger. He starts to plan his movements after they land.

Xx

Rick makes it back to the 12th with Roy giving him the ride back. He's onto and of the elevator before Roy can even try to stop him. He needs to find her and they need to talk about what happened with Royce. He knows that she has a deep connection with him and if he thinks about the way that she talked about him, the feelings she had for him went deeper than he cares to admit. He shakes off the thought that while he still loves her from a distance, she did have a life before he started to shadow her.

He's at her desk hastily and when he gets there, there's no sign of her or even her being here at all. Her desk chair is tucked neatly under her desk and her computer is not actively on. He knows that she's gone off with the sole purpose of bringing Royce closure. But he's also worried about how far she'll go in finding that justice for him. He knows that she will stop at nothing to get what she wants and this is what he fears the most. The fact that he fears the most is that she will seriously disregard all intelligible thought in her journey and end up on the wrong end of a gun. Royce was not a man who'd let anything happen to her. He was cautious as a cop, and even more perceptive than he had originally given him credit for. He tried the old pencil trick by rubbing lightly over the top sheet of the pad on her desk. He comes up with something that looks like notes from the last case they worked. Striking out he moves back to Roy's office.

Xx

If he knows anything, he knows that she has most likely made reservations for a flight out to LA and left New York already. He could write her up for insubordination, disobeying a direct order, but without her present to tell her this it'll have to wait until she walks back onto the homicide floor. He sees Rick walking towards him with a purpose. He steps up to the closed door and knocks.

"Enter." Roy calls out.

"Roy we need to talk." He says.

"Rick, I know what you are going to say. But I can already tell you that she is already gone. She won't be at her apartment, and she won't be coming in later this morning either. She's made it her mission to hunt down Royce's killer."

"Roy, you've got to know that this "mission" is going to get her killed… Right?"

"Sadly Rick, it's out of my hands. The best I will be able to do at this point is maybe get her held at LAX. But if she gets past them, then all bets are off."

Rick turns and leaves the captain's office.


	5. Chapter 5

Rick was frantic. He left the captain's office and walked to where the boys were in the break room in a hurry. However she did it, neither he nor the boys could find any trace of her leaving from any tristate airport within the last six hours. They had run her name any way they could possibly think of. Kate's name had many a variation of combinations like using her mother's maiden name, omitting her first name and using her cousin's first name but whatever they tried they had come up empty every time. Then Esposito tried dumping her phone records and they thought that they might have a trace there, but when the records came back, they were of no help either. Her last call was when the captain had called her to tell her that Royce had been murdered. Since then she was radio silent.

Xx

It was a risk. But it was one that he knew would answer a lot of questions about her abilities. All his preparation had been formulated and the more he thought about it the more he loved it. It would be the first step in securing her. Twice he had subjected himself to using the men's room in coach. He had passed her both times and the first time she was dozing by the window with a pillow wedged between the window frame and her head. The second time he passed her about an hour later she was cautiously looking around the plane searching for someone. Who, he had no idea but she was soon satisfied that there was no one she knew along for the ride with her. He sat back down in his seat in first class and dined on a medium steak wrapped with bacon and sautéed mushrooms on the side along with a glass of San Simeon 2010 Estate Reserve Cabernet Sauvignon to compliment it. He ate and when he was done he took one more trip to the men's room, but this time he used the one in first class. When he returned, he observed her once again. He was now sure that she had let her guard completely down and was unaware of his surveillance of her.

Xx

Kate Beckett was feeling a little guilty when she decided to go off to LA without so much as a word to Castle, or the boys to investigate Royce's murder. She didn't even want to think about what Roy would do when she finally did return. She knew that she'd undoubtedly be suspended at the least at the worst, she'd lose her job. But there was no compromise here. Royce was everything to her. If the situation were turned around, he'd be doing the same exact thing for her. She sat in her seat and planned her next move. She knew that the person who killed Royce had been on a flight back to LA. She didn't have Ryan's savvy in tracking down a possible suspect using the security cameras, but that would be her first stop once she arrived at LAX. She would explain that she was searching for a suspect involved in a murder back in New York and had a vague description of him. She knew that sworn personnel had been assigned to the airport, but the tech that ran the security access control unit were just that; techs. She should not have a problem with getting them to agree to let her view the footage for the last 12 hours without questioning her authority. What she was going to do after that, well that's where she was still deciding. She regretted that she had not told Castle where she was headed off to. She could have used his help, this she was sure of. But they would never find her on any passenger manifest, or her buying a ticket to LA. She had used her mother's middle name of Constance as her first name and her aunt's last name of Spinelli. No, they would never figure that out. She was certain that she'd be returning in about a week or so anyway, so there was no reason to tell them anything at all. But there was a feeling of a looming threat bothering her. She felt it but dismissed it just as quickly as it had entered her mind.

"May I have everyone's attention please." The announcement came from the pilot over the PA system said. "We are on our final approach to Los Angles International and should be on the ground in less than ten minutes. Please stay seated with your seat belts fastened until we reach the terminal. Thanks for flying with us!"

Once the plane reaches the terminal and the fasten seatbelt sign has been turned off, she reaches for her carry-on bag in the overhead compartment above her. Since she's in the tenth row she only has to deal with the passengers in first class before she can make her way out of the plane. She's on the right side of the plane and most of the first-class passengers have already left and are walking out the door. She quickly walks and turns heading straight for the cabin door. She gets held up by the line of people exiting from the left and merges in with them like a herd of cattle. She pays no attention to the man standing in the airline uniform shirt manning a wheelchair on the jetway. Starting to move again she makes it out to the jetway and starts moving up the ramp.

Xx

Mannis is up and out of his seat as soon as the plane hits the taxiway. The door is still closed and as he looks towards Beckett he sees her still sitting waiting like a girl scout for the seatbelt light to go off. The crew opens the door and he leaves the plane, exits the jetway by the side door that leads to the tarmac. He takes the steps two at a time and as he hits the last set of steps, the ground controller is placing the wheel chocks in place at the front wheels of the plane. Just as he turns Mannis takes a CO2 fire extinguisher and hits the man as he turns back to secure the external power to the plane he never knew what hit him. He drags the ground crew member to the underside of the jetway hidden from immediate view and removes his shirt and hat and dons them hastily over his own clothes as he heads for the stairway. He's back up the stairs and inside the jetway before even a minute and a half has passed. He unfolds the airline provided wheelchair and lowers his head when he sees her. He tracks her as she gets bottled up at the exit. He has one shot at this and needs not to screw it up. His window of opportunity was quickly closing the closer she walked towards him. She was shielded by three men in front of her and an older couple behind her. He turned the wheelchair directly in front of the older couple and as he predicted they moved to his left and passed her as they walked. He shoved the wheelchair forward and hit her calves with the footrests of the wheelchair and she fell backward into the chair. She was caught off guard and he withdrew the syringe from his right-hand pocket uncapped it and stuck her bicep in the upper arm. The combination of Propofol and Fentanyl had worked perfectly. She looked up at him and before he had pushed her five feet up the jetway she was already fighting the effects of the drug, her body immediately going slack. He knew that the combination of drugs he gave her would just be the start of the many that would be coursing through her veins in the near future if they were to break her of her current life. By the time she was re-tuned to their satisfaction, she would remember nothing of her life as she knew it. He wrapped a blanket around her making it look as if she was asleep but in need of medical attention, hence the wheelchair.

Xx

He met the black Ford cargo van at the loading zone. The tinted windows will prevent anyone seeing in and he hoped that they could be at their destination before she came to. The dose he gave her should give them about an hour and by then it would be a long time before she would see the light of day again. He slid the door open for the van and the man waiting for him in the cargo area had already jumped to the curb and together they tilted the wheelchair forward towards the van. Beckett fell onto the floor of the van in an unconscious heap. He dragged her in the rest of the way and Mannis rolled the wheelchair back to the terminal exit. He turned back, gave the man inside the van a hand signal and the van door slid shut. The driver put the van in drive and they were moving away from the curb. Russ had a property that was in no way associated with him or any of his companies. The man looked at the slumped form of his target lying there. He rolled her over and hog tied her, gagged her and topped the gag off with duct tape, just in case. He zipped tied her hands together behind her back as well.


	6. Chapter 6

If Russell Ganz had one thing going for him, it was that he could turn any situation around and make it work to his advantage. Detective Beckett was a gift, one he would not waste. The recovery team he had sent to recover his latest subject arrived at LAX and had since called in 10 minutes ago, with a simple message. 

“Target acquired, relocating to Delta location.”

He never responded to the call, just ended it. He knew what was going to happen next. He was always one step ahead of everyone. Business and law enforcement alike were his top priorities. It was always wise for one to know your adversaries so he could turn the screws to them if necessary. His homework had taken him a while to complete but he had everything that he’d need in order to convert Kate Beckett. He had her whole entire history. From when she was born to her last case with the twelfth and everything in between. He was really killing two birds with one stone if he thought about it. He knew that when Mannis called she was coming for him. So always being one step ahead, he gave the green light to have her taken. This would kill any investigation into him that would follow and he knew for a fact that it was in no way sanctioned by the NYPD. She went rogue and he would use it to his advantage. He assumed that when she did this she never told a soul what she was doing or where she was going. He would confirm this, but he knew her type, always the one who guarded her heart. But a person’s heart can betray you just as quickly and this is what drove her, her love for her old T.O. And yes, he knew that she loved him but that was a dead issue now. His only problem that he knew of would be one Richard Castle. He was a minor threat. He knew that he trailed after her hoping that she’d throw him a bone, but the information he obtained from his informant at the 12th told him a different story. She wanted nothing to do with him. At first, she despised him wanting nothing to do with him other than threaten to kill him herself. Over time she had let him in but not totally she still kept him far from away from her heart. Since she was not in any type of romantic relationship and had never been intimate with him it’d be easier to wipe him from her memory as if she never knew him. 

Xx

The van had left the pickup area of LAX terminal 7 and headed east on Century Blvd. Navigating city traffic they were soon coasting up the 405. During that time, Ganz had specified that the target was to be disarmed if she was so armed, stripped of all and any communication devices, and bound and gagged with a hood placed over her head. This was finished before they left LAX. Her cell phone would be downloaded into a hard drive and then tossed but not before separating the power supply from the phone. He took the phone and realized that this phone was just a basic flip phone. Not one a detective should be using. It was a burner but nonetheless, he did what he was told and got rid of it and he found no other forms of communication on her. After passing many farms they turned onto state route 14 and then headed north up and over the Vasquez Rocks park and through Palmdale. Continuing on route 14 they pressed on to a small town called Mojave. Then it was all off-road from there. Ganz had property in almost every part of the state. This property, however, was not accessible by using county or state records as it was owned by a foreign-based company not tying in with Ganz’s name. It would not be found on any real estate title search or map. There were only less than two acres that had only one building on it. They pulled into the covered building when the door opened. The driver rolled down the window and pressed one of three buttons on the stand-up pole mounted console next to the van’s door. The entryway door closed and the van suddenly dropped, but slowly. Descending down the ride would be short. When the platform came to a stop the driver got out and walked to the double doors on the side of the van. He drew his sidearm, trained on the space directly behind the doors and waited until they opened. When they did, he noticed that the target was still unconscious and holstered his weapon.

“Any problems?” He asked.

“Nope, smooth as silk.” Was the reply. 

“Coms?”

“Dealt with.”

The driver turned and retrieved a wheelchair that was used many times before and rolled it over to the side of the van. Both men dragged Beckett to the edge of the van and moved her to a sitting position. On the silent count of three, they grasped a leg each and her back, twisted around and placed her in the chair. Seeing that her head just rolled to the side they both agreed that the restraints were not needed. They both walk over to the sub-ground elevator and press the down button. This ride will be a lot longer in duration. He likes this property because while it’s in the 80’s topside, the area that they’re going to is a cooler 60 to 65 degrees. The elevator doors open and they enter. Selecting the only one button on the console the doors close and they descend deeper into the shaft. After 90 seconds and over one hundred feet later the doors open once again. The room is dark and void of anything that could be associated with civilization. The lights are turned on and the room is instantly bathed in a fluorescent glow. The walls are gray, as is the floor and ceiling. They roll their target through this room and turn right down a hallway. At the end of the hallway there is a second and third room, they open up the second larger room knowing that Ganz will need ample room to work in. They flip the lights on and roll her in. Inside the room, there are many tools at the disposal of the person who will be conducting the procedure. Conveniently, in the center of the room, there is an Eschmann T30 Operating Table, but it’s bolted to the floor. The restraints are Velcro® and are 3 inches in width. They repeat the process of lifting her out of the wheelchair and place her onto the table. The lower leg extensions of the table are adjusted to the widest position outward and locked in place. The arm extensions are moved outward to form a 90-degree angle away from the main body table. The straps are checked to ensure that escape is unattainable. They remove her shoes, stockings, and pants leaving her thong that barely covers anything in place, for now. The driver removes his knife and opens it while his partner secures her ankles and thighs. With a nod, they continue. The knife quickly cuts through the threads that hold the buttons of her blouse in place. Lifting her up, they remove her jacket and blouse. The knife makes quick work of the front clasp of her bra easily. After removing these articles of clothing, she is placed back down on the table and straps are secured to her wrists, forearms, neck, chest and mid-section. The gag is kept in place and the hood is replaced with a thick blindfold. They both look around at the room to make sure that nothing is accessible to her even though she will never get off the table. There is nothing but gray walls and the overhead light after they get done rolling out the torture tools into the hallway. Before they leave, both being satisfied that she is secure, the driver takes his knife out and with one last slice he cuts apart the lace of her thong and removes the last shred of clothing she has left. Turning away they snuff out the light and lock the door. On the outside, the steel bar is laid in place and locked as well. Her clothes are placed in a plastic evidence bag and sealed for Ganz to dispose of when he sees fit. They hang the bag on the outside of the door knowing that they will not be returning for a while. Heading back to the elevator they ride it to the van and then up and out of the building. When they are about 5 miles from the property the driver makes the call.

“It’s done.” He says.

“Good. I have another job for you. Meet me at location Bravo in six hours.”

“Rodger.”

The call ended and they drive back to LA.


	7. Chapter 7

Everything’s black. She knows that she’s blindfolded, but still she can’t even detect light, not even natural light. She feels like she’s in a vacuum. She stills her breathing to listen hard to her surroundings. Still, there’s nothing to see or to be heard except the erratic beat of her heart beneath her ribcage and the intake of air into her lungs. The last memory she has is when she was walking up the jetway at LAX hoping to take a look at the cam footage to nail Ganz, it was the only thing on her mind. Then, an older couple passed her on her left after that everything went black. She’s bound to what feels like a padded table. There are straps are over most every part of her body. She takes an inventory of her body parts that are lashed to the table. Ankles, wrists, abdomen, neck, arms, and legs and every strap is touching skin so she figures out that she’s definitely naked. And it’s cold. She has never been this vulnerable before and knows from experience that it will get worse before it even has the chance to get better. Sure, she’s an NYPD detective, but she has never been subjected to this type of extreme helplessness before. Screaming is useless because when she did scream out a while ago the sound of her voice just bounced off the gag wedged in her mouth. So, wherever she is it’s probably a small area. She tries to figure out how long she’s been here. She is hungry but not that hungry so she knows it can’t be more than 12 hours since she has been abducted. She has no injuries that she can feel other than a splitting headache that’s slowly fading. The anxiety of being naked and alone has her thinking about when Espo and Ryan were being held hostage by Lockwood. Now she knows how they felt. But the detail she regrets the most is not telling Rick and the boys what she was up to. 

Xx

They have not one indication as to where she is. It’s been just about 48 hours and the window to find anything worthwhile, is quickly coming to a close. When the clock strikes 8 am the Captain will file a missing person’s report in the hope that she can be located but they won’t hold their breath. They scrubbed street traffic cams near her apartment. They found a woman who looked like her, very similar but the timeline from when the desk sergeant said he noticed her leave but it doesn’t match, it’s off. She left the precinct at 4:42 am the woman they found who looked like she had a bit too much to drink by the way she stumbled into the building arrived around 5:13 am and she was a blonde. The phone dump had yielded nothing but another dead end. The only possible course of action they would consider taking would be to talk to her dad and see if she might have an alias he might know of and even that was a longshot. But they’d wait until the official missing person’s report was filed. Rick has had enough of sitting on his hands so he went over to the boys who just returned back from a canvas of her apartment. 

“Anything?” Rick asked hopefully.

“Nada. Zip. Zero. It’s like she just disappeared off the face of the planet.” Espo replied.

Then Ryan added, “And from what we found at her place, wherever she went to it was in a hurry.”

“Well at least we know she went somewhere Right?”

Espo just gives Castle an exhausted look and tells him “Castle, it’s another dead end. Trust me when I tell you this, if Beckett does not want to be found, she won’t be. She covered every possible aspect of disappearing. Right now, she’s a ghost.”

Ryan gently places his hand on Rick’s shoulder and pats him sympathetically and says,

“Rick, we know that you have feelings for her. But you’ve been here since Royce was found two days ago. You seriously need to get some sleep. Take 8 hours’ a shower, and then eat something. Call me when you’re ready to come back in and help.”

Rick knew Kevin was only trying to stop him from getting too involved in her disappearing deeper.

“Kevin, what about you? Or for that matter Espo, or Jenny? Don’t tell me to leave when we both know damn well that you both are not going anywhere. When you and Espo leave then so will I!”

“That sounds like a very good idea! As of this moment, the three of you are now hereby officially off duty. And I mean “OFF DUTY” I don’t want to hear about any behind the scenes investigating or today will be the last day for all three of you! I mean it. Dismissed!” With the final order given, they knew that there was no disobeying it. Roy turned and went back to his office and watched as the three collected their personal effects and walked to the elevator.

Xx

Ganz was glad that his team had placed her in the newer larger room. From time to time he’d pull up the feed to the room on his tablet. The infra-red cameras had been well worth the investment. The angle they were mounted at caught every angle of his hostage. He spent just a couple of seconds seeing if she was aware of what was going on. The first three times he did, she was still out cold. When he checked the fourth time he noticed that she was alert and trying to test the strength of her bindings. He noted the time she’d been there and she had been out for the last 18 hours. Either the team over drugged her or she was extremely tired. Either way, she was conscious. He’d give her another two days before he makes his appearance, by then the deprivation of light should have started the working in his favor. Closing the feed to the cameras he stepped up to the waiting team in the Amtrak lounge.

“Were you followed?”

“We were not.”

“Good. Great work with the detective. I’m very pleased.”

“It’s just a job. She arrived unharmed and honestly for what you want her for, I think that this will somehow come back and haunt you later.”

Ganz always listened to any of his associates if they raised concern about the outcome of a mission. He trusted their judgment and at times heeded their advice.

“We’ll see. If she can be turned it will be a plus for the organization, if not then there is no reason to keep her alive if she can’t be.”

“You mentioned something about a new job?”

“I did. I have made arrangements for a flight to Newark. Use the safe house in Queens.”

“Who or what is the target?”

“Two detectives. Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan. Both assigned to the 12th precinct homicide.”

“Anyone else?”

“One more target. Richard Castle aka Rodgers. This is not a seek and destroy op. Information and surveillance only. I want their habits, routines, and lives back to me in less than 36 hours from the time you get there.”

“Received. Liabilities?”

“To my knowledge, Esposito is an orphan. Ryan has a wife and kid, Castle has a daughter and his mother.”

“Received.”

“I’ll be up in Sacramento on business and will be back by tomorrow. I expect a full report by 0700 PST the day after tomorrow.”

The two men just nodded and turned to leave. Ganz left the lounge and walked over to the train that would take him to Sacramento. 

Xx

She was going to humiliate herself in her own eyes. She needed to pee and she couldn’t keep it in any longer. She regrets having drank the three bottles of water to settle her stomach on the flight to LA. But then she never thought she’d be in the situation she was in right now. Having no other choice, she releases the muscles to her bladder and starts to pee. The sensation is one that she never wants to experience again. There’s embarrassment from the act, but also a relief. Her urine trickles down both of her inner thighs and then to the end of the table. She listens as it collects on the floor then the sound of it dripping into a drain. When she’s done and relieved, a disturbing thought comes to her. She knows that she’ll need to expel more than urine at some time. Luckily her upset stomach has not been fed since before she went to Royce’s crime scene. But she still hates the degradation of knowing that it will happen. And knowing that if she’s not found soon this will become a certainty. She knows by now that the boys have at least been trying to look for her. But since she had done such of a good job of disappearing, she doubts they’ll have anything solid to go on. She’s tired and relieved for now and her eyes close against her will. Within minutes she is asleep.


	8. Chapter 8

Ganz arrived in Sacramento and disembarked his train. His associate was meeting him there and he knew to keep the transportation close because being seen near the state capitol was never a good thing. Leaving the general waiting area, he made for the doors that led to ground transportation. He eyed the light blue Dodge Ram and as he approached the truck the passenger side window lowered and he asked through the window,

“Any issues getting here?”

His reply was negative.

“Nothing that warrants a response.”

“Good. Let’s get to the building where the target is and then you’ll give me your intel on what you have found.”

“You might be surprised by what I found.”

“Nothing surprises me anymore, let’s go.”

Leaving the train station Ganz pulled out his tablet and pulled up the live video feed for his captive. To his amazement, she was asleep again. He closed the feed and thought about what he would start with to get her retraining moving forward. 

“A new project?”

His associate asked.

“Yes. She has promise, but time will tell if she will be worth my investment.”

“Good luck with that she looks like a handful.”

The ride to the target's building was a short one. While they were driving, Ganz had the time to go over the targets background and history. When they arrived at the address he’d go into detail with his associate about his plans to eliminate this target.

Pulling up from across the office building where the target worked, he already liked what he saw. Large plate glass windows were gracing the front of the building and she was in the corner office facing “R” street. This was the best he could have hoped for. He took the intel that his associate collected again, thumbed through about 6 pages of information, placed the file on the dashboard and surveyed the building across the street and thought. It mattered not to him what these people had done. To him, they were merely a contract. A contract that paid very well to see them dead and get results so he could care less why they needed to be terminated he’d just carry it out. He picked up the binoculars to get a better look and after a second he had decided.

“Take her first thing tomorrow morning after she gets set up for her work day. Make sure it’s a clean shoot I want no mistakes.”

“Confirmed. I’ll text you when the contract is complete along with a picture.”

“Good. I’ll be expecting a confirmed termination text when the job is finished. Use the primary number. Text only.”

“Affirmative”

The associate started the truck and put it in drive. Soon they were pulling up on Stillwater Road he knew which hotel chain his boss had favored it was always the Hilton. He pulls up to the check-in desk and stops the truck. Turning to face him his associate gives him a quick nod to confirm his departure Ganz is gone from the truck. Ganz’s heart and mind might have been made of stone and that is what made him who he is today. It’s a tool just like a rifle or a knife. It served him well in the past and he would not change anything now.

Xx

Even though Esposito, Ryan, and himself were booted from her disappearance case Rick was not going to give up so easily. By now the Captain would have filed the missing person’s report and issued a BOLO for her. But Rick was not one to sit still for long. He had contacts in shady places, even shadier than he’s ever dealt with before. So, while he sat at his desk he figured out who he was going to call first. He would probably start with the more ruthless type of shady contact but whatever got them answers he would gladly pay the price. Picking up the phone he dialed a number that he’d never dialed before. He said a simple phrase into the phone.

“Are the oranges sweet?”

Then Rick hangs up. Within ten minutes his phone will ring, but for now, he dials a second less harmful number. One that will at least not want to kill him for what he wants.

Xx

She woke up with a start. She was dreaming of when she had last been with Royce and as many of the times, she’s had it before it always became an erotic dream. They had never been together like that but this never stopped her subconscious from taking her there. She still felt that he was right there with her making it all the more real when she woke up. She needed to focus on trying to get out of this mess she was in. She tried to think about who could have taken her, but she knew for a fact that nobody knew where she was or where she had gone to. She thought that this would be a quick 2 or 3-day visit and no one would be the wiser. Boy, she was so stupid. She never noticed who had drugged her but maybe if she did she’d have some sort of defense she could use against them. But the more she thought about it, the more she knew it was not going to help her. She has been here for at least three days. She’s cold, hungry, and she is starting to wonder if anyone is going to show up and tell her what is going on. Whoever it is they must have a well put together operation to be able to get away with kidnapping an NYPD detective in broad daylight. 

Xx

Ganz received the first of two texts from his operative at the “R” street job. It was simple and effective: target terminated. The second one was what worried him, but he knew that his operative had the situation well in hand. The operatives second text stated that local law enforcement had been quick to respond to a sniper in the area. But the operative knew that getting pinched leaving the unoccupied office in a rush would not bode well. He broke down his weapon and had it placed into the ordinary looking foam lined attaché case. He snapped the lid shut and straightened his silk tie tight to his collar. He removed his gloves and buttoned his suit jacket. Taking the case, he exits the office space and walks calmly out to the main hallway and blends in with the early crowd going to lunch. He steps off the elevator and into the lobby of the building and already sees the first of many police cars lining the street. In no time, he’s blocks away from the scene and while the Sacramento detectives might find his hide they’ll have much a harder time finding out who pulled the trigger. There will be nothing at the scene to tie him to this hit. He prides himself on efficiency and this job was nothing he had not planned for. He places the attaché case on the passenger side of the truck, starts it up and waits for the air conditioner to cool the cab. He sends the last of his texts and the picture of the kill with a simple phrase: back at the truck. Awaiting further orders.

He doesn’t need to wait long for a reply and is directed to rendezvous at the location where the boss's guest is. It’s a four-hour drive and he can only think that his skills in interrogation and physical torture will be put to good use. He hopes that what his boss has in mind can be accomplished because she looked like she was going to take a while to get her to the level the boss needed her to be at to be an efficient asset. He places the truck in drive and heads to route 80 west and through the desert. If he’s lucky he’ll have a traffic free drive.

Ganz is boarding the plane at SFO bound for Meadows Field airport. It’s a regional commuter plane only because Meadows Field is too small for a larger type commercial jet. He will need to rent a car to complete the rest of his trip but it will be easier, in the long run, the total drive time to Mojave is just under an hour. He has only three outstanding contracts set up for next week and the operatives he assigned to the jobs do not need any further instructions. The hits will be carried out and then he can put just about everything on the back burner for now. This way he’ll have more than enough time to get the first part of her reconditioning almost complete. That is if she cooperates. He knows that she will be a force that will try her damndest to resist his techniques. But in the past, he’s converted people who thought they were stronger than she is. The last one he reprogrammed is now a dependable operative in the eastern block of Europe and has been honoring his contracts for the last three years. He turns off onto the dirt road that leads to the lone freestanding building. He pulls in as the doors open and depresses the lower of the two buttons and the car descends down. Backing up into a parking spot some 50 feet away the car will unused for the next three weeks at least. He takes what he needs from the trunk and slams it closed, walks over to the elevator and calls the elevator to the floor he’s on. 90 seconds after stepping on the elevator he exits and walks towards the room she’s in. He pulled up the image on his tablet one last time and he knows that she hears something coming towards the room by the way she plays possum feigning sleep so suddenly. He takes inventory of what she was wearing hanging in the plastic bag above the security bar. This has confirmed to him that she has most definitely gone rogue. She had no weapon and she was dressed in a pair of jeans and a tee shirt. He tosses the bag off to the side of the door and unlocks the lock on the security bar. Removing the bar, he opens the door making it squeal from it being unused f. The instant he stepped in he could see her tense up tight against the restraints and then she relaxes. It’s a small tell but one he notices just the same. He flips on the light and stands directly in front of her. or so long

“Good afternoon detective.”

Upon her silence, he tries once more.

“I said, good afternoon detective! And I am expecting some sort of response, really, faking being asleep? It’s so beneath you.”

Still nothing from her. He is going to enjoy breaking her so he might as well get started now. He raises his hand and backhands her across the face so hard that the gag almost dislodges itself from her mouth as her head snaps to the left and stays there. She finally rights her head and he removes the gag from her mouth.

“Who in the hell are you?” She spits out with anger and blood starts to drip from the corner of her mouth.

“For now detective who I am is none of your concern. For now, I could be viewed as your savior among other things.”

“Not likely. I’ll have you know….”

“Know?? Know what detective? What I do know is that you have decided to partake in a non-sanctioned, under the table and illegal investigation into the murder of your old training officer.” 

“Wha…”

“Yes, detective I know why you’re here but what I can’t understand why you would venture into a case that would lead you nowhere. His murderer will never be found, as much as you had hoped you would be the one to catch him.”

“How do you know this?”

Ganz looks at her naked form and sees her shaking with either anticipation of wanting to know or the fear that she’ll be left with more questions.

“How I know this is not important… for now. But in the near future you will find out, but by that time it will be too late for you to do anything about it.”

“No, it won’t, I’m a fucking New York City police detective!!” 

“And that’s where your wrong detective Beckett, you were a New York City police detective. Now you’re just simply mine!”


	9. Chapter 9

Ganz still had the upper hand. She was on her own and he would take advantage of this. He walked over to the stainless-steel table that he had rolled back into the room and unzipped the large duffel he brought in with him from the trunk of the car. From it, he pulled an assortment of items from the bag and returned to his captive. He pulled on sterile gloves, hung six bags of TPN in tandem, then swiped an alcohol wipe across her arm and felt for a promising vein in her arm and within ten seconds he had inserted a 22-gauge needle into her arm, withdrew it and left the catheter in place and then taped it to her arm. Her initial reaction was a flinch when he inserted the needle but other than that she kept quiet. The blindfold was still in place so she was still clueless as to who he was.

Xx

He stretched out the IV line attached it to the bag of TPN and then inserted it into the catheter. He released the line clamp and the fluid started to run through the tube and into her system. She had been without food for three days and while this was not a steak and potatoes meal, it would keep her alive to complete what he needed to do with her. 

“Detective, while I might be heartless, I’d hate for you to starve in my absence. This will keep you alive for the time being.”

“What are you going to do with me?” She asked.

“Questions, questions, questions. I know that you have a very trained and inquisitive mind to ask these questions, but now is not the time for you to get answers. This nourishment will be keeping you alive for the rest of your time here. You will feel the need to urinate and by all means do just that I’ve made sure that you can do so without fear of embarrassment. Solid waste that’s still in your system will eventually find its way out as well, and you’ll need to expel that too. But I know that it will be a little humiliating for you to do that, but fear not you are all alone here in this room. As for the stench, well you’ll just need to live with that for a while until I return to clean you up. Your system should be solid free in two to three days. But being the thorough man that I am, I’ll be back in five days to check up on you so until then detective I’ll bid you a farewell.”

Ganz rolled the table out into the hallway and relocked the door. He was surprised that she said nothing and as he left his associate might have been correct, maybe she could not be retrained. But he had not lost hope yet.

Xx

He parked the steel table out in the hallway and walked back down the corridor and reached his office. Unlocking it he walked in and turned on the monitors for the cameras that were in her room. He had both infra-red and normal cameras. He watched as she tried to struggle free. After about an hour she gave up and that’s when he heard it. She relieved her bladder and he was surprised that the TPN had taken that long to work through her system. He had the TPN piggybacked together and it would last for the five days while he was gone. Her sleep deprivation would be the next phase. He turned away when his phone rang and he looked at the display. His team in NYC was checking in. He reached for the phone and answered.

“Status?”

“Made contact with targets. Esposito is a loner. Lives alone and is prior military. Ryan has liabilities if needed. More of a family man. Castle is connected and is digging into her disappearance. Not sure of what he found out. We will need more time on that front. There is a BOLO out on her covering the tristate area. The missing person’s report filed yesterday is country wide.”

“We knew that this was inevitable. Within a month, she will be yesterday’s news. Concentrate on Castle. Make sure he finds out nothing. Do whatever it takes to persuade him. The same goes for the detectives. Keep me updated.”

Xx

Whatever he gave her it ran right through her and she needed to pee again. She held for as long as possible but after an hour she couldn’t take it anymore. She relieved herself and instantly was relieved but only for a second. She hated that whoever this was that had this power and control over her. She could not tell who he was by hearing his voice even though she tried. She tried to free herself once again by tugging on the straps that bound her to the table. After an hour, she gave up.

Xx

He watched as she struggled to get free once again and then decided that he would start his next part of her training the second she fell asleep. He would take the CIA’s lead in sleep deprivation and keep her awake for a short time to start with. He watched as her body became lax against the restraints and waited for another ten minutes until he knew she was asleep. On her fourth day of captivity, he started. The speakers that were loud and very close to her were turned on and he selected Iron Maiden’s “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” to start off with. He had other hard metal bands that would run on a loop and always shuffle around. He decided that he’d start this torture at around 90 decibels. Let the loop run for about 6 hours and then increase the intensity to around 110 decibels for an additional 2 hours. Give her a small fifteen-minute break and just as she thought it would be safe to sleep again, he would start the cycle all over again. He’d break down her short-term memory and then eventually her immune system would start to deteriorate. But that would come into play later. He eyed the camera once more and then activated the sound system. He watched she tried to raise her hands to cover her ears but to no avail. He rose and headed out of the office to go topside to wait for his associate driving in from the job on “R” street. He checked his watch and realized that he should be here any minute.

Xx

Espo had a funny feeling that he was being watched, but shrugged it off since he never noticed anything out of the ordinary. He went on home and as he entered the subway car he kept looking around at his surroundings. Still not noticing that anyone was watching him he got off at his stop and climbed the stairs to the street. He’d be cautious but never let his guard down all the way.

Rick answered his phone and heard the reply “Yes the oranges are sweet this time of year.”

"I need your assistance." He stated simply.

“What do you need Mr. Castle?” Was asked sternly.

“I need to find an NYC detective who went missing against her will.”

“We’re entering a very gray area here Mr. Castle. Are you sure that you want to proceed?”

Rick thought the question for a second and before he could get lost in his feelings before he knew it he was already speaking his answer. 

“I do.”

“Very well then. After we receive payment, there will be a call within 24 hours of receiving payment. Make it payable to the account in the Caymans. You know the account number. Payment for information is the usual amount.” 

The line went dead and Rick was left staring at his phone. When the screen faded to black, he pulled up the app for his slush account and transferred 50k into the account in the Caymans. He waited for the deposit confirmation and closed the app. They’d be calling tomorrow around two pm. He decided that a talk with her father would be the next thing to do. He got up and headed or the door.

 

This is for 41319 who thinks it's torture not to get more than 1 update a week!


	10. Chapter 10

As he sat in his office he thought about how this space had calmed him, it gave him the solitude to think straight. He liked this office better than the one in Los Angeles because he associated that location with the cruelest part of him with what he does. Here he can relax and think about what he wants to do without being pressured with the ins and outs of taking care of business. But every now and then he needs to deal with it no matter what. 

He pulls the chair to an upright position drops his feet to the floor and slides the mission folder lying on the desk closer to him. He takes a deep breath and flips open the folder and reads the notes on the mark. He’s a CFO of a major finance company and for the last five years he decided to give himself a raise. Of course it was flat out embezzling, and it had taken the company's IT team that long to find this out because he was damn good at covering his tracks. When he received the call from the president of the company ordering the hit he was stunned at first. Usually he is contacted through a third party. But the longer he talked with the man the more he could hear the hatred for his CFO come to the surface. To Ganz he seemed like a no-nonsense kind of leader, one who would stop at nothing to get results. The president knew that charging the CFO with the crime it would only result in a long and drawn out trial with minimal punishment given in conclusion. His version of justice would be quick and painless. The president hired him right after he explained how the “accident” would be carried out. The CFO loved to ice fish. Almost every time he went alone and this situation alone was a gold mine for Ganz. He had his own ice hut and it was there where he would meet his end. On Dark Blue Pit lake, near the small town Ridge his associate entered the hut and barred the door shut from the inside. Within 2 minutes the assassin was stuffing the newly expired CFO into the ice hole and since the lake ice was almost crystal clear he watched him float to the surface under the ice and away from the hut. He opened the wood burning stove and added some newspapers and more wood to it, then stoked it into a very large blaze. Leaving the door to the stove open as he left the ice hut and closed the door to the hut. The flames had made the inside of the hut extremely hot. It had taken less than ten minutes for the two-inch-thick ice to melt to a point where the whole hut had fell into the lake. The lake itself was thirty-five feet deep and with as cold as it was the hole that the hut fell into would be frozen over within the hour. 

He read the notes his associate left in the file and there were no witnesses and no incriminating DNA or physical evidence for the St. Louis County Sherriff to find. His body would eventually be found but months from now and not until the lake had totally thawed out. He filed the folder in his file cabinet marked complete. He would call the CEO in the morning and tell him that the job was complete. Then he’d be wired the remainder of his fee. 

Xx

She was slowly going insane. The music that she was subjected to was loud and increased in decibels at different times. She could tell that her ear drums were slightly damaged and she had a pounding headache and on top of all that she was still cold. She was hungry and she had peed for what felt like days. Whatever he was giving her to survive on for the last 4 days was doing its job. She had held it until she couldn’t hold it in any more. She hated that this vile act not only embarrassed her but she felt degraded, disgraced even. Two days ago, she had to expel the solids that were in her bowel. She hated the fact that she was still strapped to this damn table and it was unsanitary to be lying in her own waste. But the music played on and she tried everything to forget what she was hearing but it slowly took her over. It was impossible to sleep she thinks she barely got about thirty minutes in the last four days. But she now has no sense of time so it might be longer or shorter she has no way of knowing. 

Xx

Ganz takes a view of the monitors. What he sees is someone who is dealing with intense sound for 5 days straight. What he knows is that her brain has slowly forgotten short-term memories and her immune system is probably breaking down as he watches her. He set the timer for the music to end when he gets to the room, Another five minutes should do it. Before he can do that there’s a knock on his office door. He tells the person to enter.

“Gary, great job on your last contract. It went very well.”

“Thanks. By the way that was a very creative way to deal with him. I only wished I had thought of it.”

“One day Gary you will. Listen, I'm going to start with her now. Care to come with?”

“Yeah, I want to see how tough this bitch really is.”

“Grab the duffel bag from off the desk. Her next six days of nutrition are in it.”

Xx

Rick was a little intimidated by standing in front of his partner’s father's apartment door. He'd only met the man once and he really needed to talk to him so he got up the balls to knock. Before his knuckles hit the door it swung open revealing Jim.

“Rick? What are you doing here?”

“I'm here to ask you a couple of questions about Kate.”

“Oh? Like what?”

“Do you mind if I come in? I can explain it better being a little more at ease.”

“Sure, Rick. Just take a seat on the couch and I'll get you a bottled water.”

“Thank you, sir.” Rick replied.

“Rick, Jim is fine.”

Rick entered the apartment and waited for Jim to tell him where to sit. He motioned to the couch and Jim sat opposite him in an arm chair. 

“So, Rick, what’s on your mind?”

“A lot Jim, or not enough! I don’t really know! I’m not finding out anything about where Kate has disappeared to. I have contacts in really low places and they usually find me something about what information I need. But they came up empty. They had her on a flight to LA, but after the plane landed she went off the grid. No one has seen or heard from her in five days.”

“I’m not sure what you want me to tell you.”

Rick could not believe what her father just said. For someone who said that he loved his daughter as much as he did, the comment he just made was so out of character for him. Then Rick had a thought so he asked.

“Jim, are you under some kind of threat?” Rick asked as he hoped he was right.

Jim looked at Rick with shock written all over his face. Then he spoke.

“Rick, Katie is her own person. Whatever she’s gone and done, it’s usually damn the torpedo’s and full speed ahead. She has no disregards for those she hurts in her pursuit of finding justice for whoever she’s finding it for. So, I’ve had many talks with her to make her see that this reckless life that she’s leading will get her into trouble one day… and it looks that that day has come.”

Rick looked at him shell-shocked. He had trouble processing what he was hearing. Her father was always looking out for her and he could tell that either he has given up on her or that he was being pressured by somebody and was being blackmailed. Either way this conversation was over. Rick got up from the couch and made his way to the door without giving him another look in his direction. At least expected him to escort him to the door but as he opened the door and turned Jim was just looking out into blank space. To Rick it looked like his world had just ended. Was it the questions he had asked or accused him of? The second he closed the door to the apartment he pulled the cell phone out of his pocket. He immediately called Esposito to ask him to meet him at the Haunt. He agreed.

“Javi, I'm sure something is going on with him. He acted so cold towards her being missing, and I think that someone got to him somehow.”

“Rick, are you sure? Can he be acting like he's just devastated knowing that he she might be in too deep this time?”

Rick thought about Javi's question. While there might be a shred of truth to Jim's behavior he still needed to talk to him in person.

“Either way we need to meet. Call Ryan and have him there as well.”

“I'll see what I can do Rick” 

Rick ended the call and put his phone back in his pocket. Reaching the street, he hailed a cab and got in heading to the Haunt. 

Xx

Ganz and Gary waited until the music ended before unbarring the door and walking in. When they did walk in Gary put the duffle bag on the table that Ganz needed for his guest. Gary walked up and looked at her. She was still blindfolded and gagged. He noticed that she was out of it. The second they came in she fell asleep. 5 days without sleep will do that to a person he thought. Ganz walked over to the back of the room and pulled the one inch fire hose from its holder. He walked up to his detainee, stood about 10 feet from her and opened up the fire hose dousing her with ice cold water.

When the music stopped, she was grateful. Her body just shut down and she was asleep instantly. The reprise was short lived though. The second she felt the ice cold water hit her body she was awake. She tried to hear if he would talk again, but heard nothing over the sound if the water hitting her midsection and between her legs clearing her waste away. The deluge went on for about two minutes then stopped.

“Detective, we can't have you messy, now can we?”

This was a new voice. One she did not recognize. But since her eardrums were possibly damaged, it could be the same voice she just didn’t know for sure.

“Now detective is when the fun starts.”

Kate cringed. This was a new voice and she wondered what “fun” they had in mind for her. 

Ganz removed the empty bags of TPN and replaced them with six new bags. He nodded to Gary who removed her gag. He slapped her face hard so he had her full attention.

“Good afternoon detective. I will be a part of your retraining from this point on. If I don't like your answers to my questions, punishment will be administered. And it won't be pleasant. Do you understand me?”

Kate started to answer but nodded slowly instead. 

“Good. I'm glad that we're on the same page.”

Ganz stepped up and started with the first of many questions.

“Detective tell me, who knows that you came here to LA?”

“Nobody. I flew under an alias.” she ground out.

“Who is Richard Castle to you?”

“He’s nobody to me.”

Gary landed a solid punch to her abdomen at Ganz's nod. Without time for her to recover he hit her again but a lot harder.

“Once again detective, who is Richard Castle to you?”

She was still trying to catch her breath and needed time to answer.

“He's a civilian consultant at the 12th precinct. And he was my partner.” she replied trying to suck air into her lungs.

“Now detective that wasn't so hard, was it? Was your partner? Why are you thinking that?”

Kate said nothing in return. She decided to be a little bold to ask a simple and maybe crazy question.

“When am I going to be released from here?”

“I'm here to tell you detective that you'll be here for quite a while. The life that you knew back in New York, soon will be a distant memory for you. No, your old life is over, now you will be retrained to carry out my orders, not those of the NYPD. I can tell you this now, because in 3 or 4 month’s time, you won't be able to remember anything about what I just told you.”

Kate felt a chill run up and down her spine. This was not going to end well. She now regrets not telling Rick or the boys where she went to. She thinks about her dad and wonders what he is doing right now. Then she thinks about Rick and her heart sinks at the thought. 

“I'll have more questions for you later detective. But for now, I'm going to treat you like you have been treating your partner first hot and then cold. Isn't it funny how karma comes back to bite you in the ass? I’ve always been a firm believer in karma. My parents died because of it. We'll be back in six days’ time detective so, please enjoy yourself.”

Ganz replaced the gag in her mouth and then went back to roll out his steel table. Before he did, he picked up the control tablet and readjusted the temperature in the room. First setting was for 30° Fahrenheit for a four-hour duration. Then the temp climbs to 110° Fahrenheit for the next four hours. After 5 cycles at 4 hours each the cycle increases by 4 additional hours. By the time the 6th day arrives she'll have close to 12 hours of extreme cold and then extreme heat. All the while listening to high volumes of metal music.

The temp had already dropped significantly in the short time and Ganz walked up to see if she was feeling it. She was. Her lips were already turning a light shade of blue already and with her being naked still strapped to the table, her nipples were tight and erect as well. Her body was covered in goosebumps. He motioned Gary to leave and after he did he told her, 

“Detective here's something for you to think about. Maybe next time you won't keep the ones who love you at arm’s length in the future. Enjoy the next six days!”

With that said, Ganz depressed the tablets icon for the music to start. But now it would be a constant 110 decibels. He rolled the table out and locked the door.


	11. Chapter 11

She was slowly losing her mind. There was no other way to describe how she felt. Right now, her body was on fire. The temperature now was easily well over 100 degrees. She knows for a fact that she has lost a considerable amount of weight and about a day ago her kidnapper returned and retightened the straps that held her to the table. It was more painful when the temperature dropped. Her body started to shiver and shake against her own commands. Her blood had turned thicker and she was having trouble breathing due to her airway being constricted. She had lost all control over her muscles during each temperature swing. Her tendons would pull tightly together against her joints in her arms and legs and her abdomen and cause extremely painful cramping that she could do nothing to prevent. During the cold swing, she could not feel her fingers or toes and then her arms or legs. They were starting to become frostbitten. But as that temp came back up they thawed. Then the temp lasted longer in duration and in a way, she welcomed the heat the first time, until it was unbearable. Due to the extreme heat temperature change, she was able to force the gag out of her mouth. The words she spilled out of her mouth were not kind in any way.

“You fuckers better let me out of here. I’m beyond being forgiving at this point.”

Xx

Ganz sat in his office and listened to her rant from the button microphone by her head. He wondered if she even thought that she was being heard over the music being played as loud as it was. She was breaking and everything was going according to his schedule. Gary let out a chuckle.

“Does she know what’s in store for her next?”

“I highly doubt it. But this next encounter we have with her will be the start her retraining. With the timetable I have in place, she’ll be converted and ready to kill for me in about 3 months.”

“What happens if she can’t be retrained? If she resists? this process has about a 78% chance of succeeding and she looks like a very strong-willed person.”

“If we get to that point you will take care of it. Either she conforms or she doesn’t. Either way, she will never return back to New York.”

Ganz thought about what he’d do if there was ever a contract that he sent her on in New York. Could she eliminate the target in the city and be memory free of her past if she did return? Time would tell. But at first, he’d keep her restricted to the west coast. There were many, many opportunities here. He gazed at her and thought while Gary prepped the required medications for their next visit. Minimizing the image, he pulled the reports he had on Castle, Esposito, and Ryan from the team that went to NYC. Each had liabilities, Castle more than any. He’d use him as an example if this went sideways. He had no problem dispatching an assassin to take out his mother or daughters life if either she failed to be converted or Castle got too close to him.

Xx

Espo and Ryan were at the Haunt each drinking a beer when Castle walked in. He walked over to their booth and nodded. The two men got up, picked up their beers and followed him down into his office. Sitting at his desk he was able to pull up the LAX security camera footage on his laptop that showed absolutely nothing indicating that Kate had been there. Then side by side he pulled up JFK’s footage and the gate from where she left.

“Guys, this is her as she’s leaving terminal 4 gate A7. The feed shows her walking down the jetway and then onto the plane.”

“Castle, how can you be sure that’s her?” There’s a hat on this woman’s head and if it is her, the hair is not long. To me, it looks to be pulled up into her hat.” Espo commented.

“Really Javi??? Please don’t act like Jim did!! Just wait for a second and keep looking at the feed.”

As they do they see who Rick thinks is Beckett round the bottom of the jetway and right before she steps on the plane she removes the hat she's wearing, exposing her face. The screen grab that he pulls up in another window is the one that his lower than dirt contact had sent him.

“Guys, look at the screen grab. This still picture was able to identify her through facial recognition.” 

Kevin and Javi both stare at the shot speechless. Why would she do this? But then they realize that the same flight arriving in LAX shows nothing of her leaving the flight or moving into the terminal. They have no idea where she could be.

“Rick we know where she went to and that’s a hard fact, but we have no idea what happened to her after she got off the plane. I hate to tell you this, but without any leads from that point on, the fact that you might have found her going out to LA, where she went or what happened to her after that is just another dead end.” Espo stated.

“Oh come on Espo!! That’s bullshit and you know it. Why are you acting like this, I can’t believe that you're being so simple-minded about this. You always believed me when I told you what could have happened in any other case, why now do you dismiss my theory? She’s your boss, partner, and if that's not enough for you... She's your friend!!”

Kevin feels the need to step in and defuse the situation before it can’t be controlled. He places his body between Rick and Javi but he’s a little too late because Javi has other ideas. He grabs for Castle across Kevin’s body and takes his shirt collar and twists it in his fists until he can see Castle’s eyes start to bulge. Thrashing around to get free and to get some air into his lungs he does the only thing he can to get free. He side arms Espo in the side of his jaw almost knocking him out and he feels bad because Kevin suffered some of the hit. Espo stumbles backward and then in a defensive move advances to confront Castle head on. But before he can connect to Castle’s body with his raised fist, a voice that all three know yells out halting their movement.

Xx

Gary stood by the door waiting for the music to cease. There are many ways to convert a person’s will and mind to be in line with how you want them to obey you. He had been a part of the CIA’s mind control program code-named Project MKUltra. This was the CIA’s experimental program adopted from many sources including the likes of Hitler and Stalin. The Russians had come close to developing a process that was able to make people more acceptable to thought persuasion. But it was the CIA who took it one step further with the introduction of many experimental drugs at the time. He was involved in the tail end of the program before the CIA was ordered to shut the program down in 1973. During that time, he had access to many techniques that they used to convert many an unwilling subject. He rechecked his current supply of drugs and administering items and waited for Ganz to arrive. The music stopped and Ganz walked towards the room. He nodded and Gary unbarred the door and rolled the steel table in. Her head lolled from right to left and he could tell that she might be more receptive to being reconditioned now. He stopped the table next to her and the second he did he could smell the effects that her body went through caused by the extreme temperature changes. He stepped back and watched as Ganz opened up the fire hose on her once more to get rid of the waste that had accumulated at her feet. Once that was done Ganz replaced the hose and removed the next bags of TPN. She had been blindfolded for just about two and a half weeks. Ganz pulled the large high-intensity lamp over and set it directly in front of her. He changed the bags and stepped back behind the lamp and then pointed to Gary and his cocktail on the table. While Gary put on surgical gloves and took out the first IV bag, he flipped the switch on. The bright intense light had flooded the room pointing directly at the detective. He hung the Phenobarbital on the IV pole and stretched out the line. Then he swabbed her arm found her antecubital vein and inserted the 20-gauge needle into her right arm. Then he let the drug flow freely. He reached up and removed the blindfold and tossed it onto the table. Moving to her left arm he repeated the same process only this IV bag had dextroamphetamine and a 25% mixture of Lysergic acid diethylamide which is a pharmaceutical version of LSD. He made sure to place the second IV far from her food supply then he stood back and waited. Her head dropped and soon she was out. The recommended down time was eight minutes. He set his timer for six minutes and thirty seconds. The Phenobarbital had already been in her system for the last minute and a half. When the timer went off he removed the IV-line lock and the second cocktail started flowing into her arm. He stopped the Phenobarbital and waited for her response. Within a minute her body bolted straight up against the restraints and then her head dropped back down. Slowly she started to babble about basically nothing. Something about one of her childhood friends, some woman named Maddie, the items that she needed from the grocery store from a month and a half ago. It’s now he knows that she is almost ready. He has a list of her failures written down and he waits for the drugs to take a solid hold of her permanently. She raised her head at the sound of his voice and instantly closes her eyes. 

“Open your eyes. NOW!”

Not getting her to obey he slaps her hard again. Repeating his command, she still disobeys. So, after another slap to the face drawing blood from the corner of her lip he adds a solid punch to her abdomen. The reaction is immediate. She’s trying to bend over and take in air, but the straps prevent it facing defeat she opens her eyes and blinks at the bright light until she can adjust to the light.

“Detective, it’s a shame that you have failed finding your mother’s killer. One in many failures I suppose. Finding closure for her murder has been a failure that you never did shake. Your father understood his failure and he found relief in the bottom of a bottle of liquor always blaming you for how badly you failed. Then you failed to tell Mr. Castle how you feel about him. This time you failed on a personal level. Detective, it amazes me how you even advanced to the level of a first-grade detective with all of the ways you failed. And that’s not to mention your past relationships. Why didn’t you follow Will Sorenson to Boston? Don’t tell me you gave him up for your job. No, you failed to tell him that you always had one foot out the door and could not commit to him. Then you’re using Detective Demming to prove to Mr. Castle that you can get a man and make him jealous. Only that did not go as planned for you, didn’t it? Mr. Castle’s ex-wife showed up at the last minute and the second you put it together you knew again that you failed. Such a shame, the two of you made a handsome couple.”

Gary repeated the same list of all her failures and other missteps that she had for about two hours. Her mind was open to what he was saying and when he stopped she asked,

“How do I find freedom from my failures?”

Gary walked up to her and lifted her eyelids to see if she was still suggestive and not playing along. The second he did this her eyes rolled into the back of her head. She was ready. 

“Lola, look at me.”

Kate gave him a strange look knowing that she thought her name was Kate not Lola but she really did not remember much of anything.

Gary snapped his fingers and repeated the name again. The second time she blinked and looked up at him.

“Lola?” She said in a whisper.

“Yes, that’s right You are Lola Black. You are a Russian operative who has been compromised. When your last mission had fallen apart you came to us to keep you safe. And now you work for us.”

“How? I can only remember small parts of anything. And not much else.”

Gary knew that her short-term memory was just about wiped from her brain and he had a clean slate to work with for as far back to about 6 years ago. He wondered how much of her long-term memories she still had intact. Today’s session would be repeated for the next 10 days so she’d remember that she was now Lola Black. He knew that she spoke fluent Russian. So, he spoke in Russian to her and asked,

“Лола, ты когда-нибудь проваливал в жизни свою цель, на которую решил?”  
(““Lola, have you ever failed a goal in your life that you've set your mind to?”)

“Нет! Я не ставил перед собой много целей, чтобы быть разочарованным.”  
(“No! I have not set many goals in my life to be disappointed by.”)

He was pleased with the way she answered him. He thought about it and decided that a majority of their conversations would be in Russian when the conversion was finished because she spoke it beautifully. This would put her further into the role he wanted her to remember.

Gary tapped his watch and looked over to Russell indicating that he was done with her for today. He removed the IV bags of drugs but left the port in her vein knowing that she’ll get the same cocktail tomorrow. He taped the port to her arm securely. Repacking his tools of the trade, he picked up the duffel bag and turned to Ganz. The light was left on in front of her but pulled back so she would not be burned by the intense heat. They left the room without saying a word. She did not even look to them when the door opened and closed. She just tried to think.

After they left Lola/Kate tried to remember anything of where she had been or where she came from. She had fading memories of her mother being murdered and she associated that memory with it having to do with her job as an operative. She kind of remembers the location she was murdered in, but that alley could be just about anywhere. Then she thinks about a young redheaded girl. She looked to be around 17 years old. But for the life of her, she can’t place a name to her face.

Sitting in the office Russell and Gary go over the results from the first part of the conversion.

“So what your thoughts about the initial session?” Ganz asked.

“She did well today. But tomorrow will be a bigger test. She’ll need to be immersed in Lola’s life. I mean everything from her childhood, to her lovers, and her work as an operative.” Gary told him.

“Most of that is taken care of. All we need to do is come up with a couple of dead coworkers that she was involved with sexually and plant them in her head. Do you have pictures of these men?”

“I do.” Gary pulls out the folder and takes out two pictures of Soviet agents who have been killed in the line of duty. “These two will do.” They are both the type that Beckett would go for. “We will just make her believe that these men were her lovers.”

“Oh, and how do you suggest we do this?” Ganz asked.

“Dimitri here…” Gary raises the picture of him “was a handsy kind of guy. He’d like to play the hostage/captor with his lovers among other fantasies. And when the time is right I’ll tell her about Mikhail here” he holds up the second picture “but not until we have Dimitri solidly in her mind.”

“And how will that help us?”

“Ah, sexual pleasure and gratification of one’s body is always a perfect incentive to introduce new memories and make them constant in her mind. Right now, she is in the same position on the table that Dimitri had used when he tied up his “hostage” and pleasured her. Spread eagle and exposed, defenseless even.”

Ganz thought about what he said and was not 100% sure that it’d work. In her past life, Beckett never had lovers that would treat her like this. Hell, he knew that she was always the one who had never initiated a sexual encounter with the men she was with, but when she was involved in the act itself she would take charge and get what she needed from a stiff cock. So, maybe this could be a way to get her to believe that she was involved with these men. They’d find out tomorrow.

“The only item that has me concerned is her long-term memory. He short term is shot and from what I have seen she’s at a point in her life where she’s struggling with her mother’s murder. But she still might be able to draw back from her distant memories.”

“I have a solution we can put in place that will take care of that. Here read this.” Ganz pulls out a scenario written on paper that puts Beckett’s mother in danger during one of her ops that failed. Her mother was being held by a man with a knife and she took too long to act before he stabbed her to death and she died right in front of her.

“This should work fine. I’ll improvise this as I see fit to sell it.”

“Good. Loud music or extreme temperature?”

“Give her a break, go with the temps. But increase the duration for 12 hours during each cycle. This way it will be toasty when we get there tomorrow.”

“Done!” Ganz picks up the tablet and swipes the icon for the program and watches long enough to see her start to shake due to the cold.


	12. Chapter 12

As they were about to unload on each other Castle took up a defensive position to defend Esposito’s retaliatory strike when an angry voice called out and they stopped in mid stride ready to punch each other.

“What the hell is wrong with the two of you? I swear I will never understand how she has the patience to deal with a team of three-year old’s like you!!”

Esposito and Castle look down and realized that they were acting like three-year old’s. Nothing would be solved by beating the shit out of each other. So, they stood down.

“Doing this will solve nothing. Both of you should be putting all this energy into finding my daughter, and not beating the SHIT OUT OF EACH OTHER!!!!!” Jim yelled.

Rick, Espo, and Ryan just stood there having never heard Jim get angry at anything least of all them. Ryan is the first to try to talk while he still rubs the side of his face.

“Mr. Beckett We’re at a standstill. We have your daughter boarding a flight at JFK and then nothing. It’s like she disappeared into thin air.”

“Seriously Ryan?? Into thin air is the best you’ve got? It’s been three weeks!! She has to be somewhere! People have had to notice something, anything! She just didn’t disappear into thin air.”

Rick still had adrenaline flowing through his system and should have thought before he spoke.

“Oh so now you’re worried Jim? Why did you give me the impression that you could give two shits when I was with you four hours ago? I can’t believe you, you’re not the man I thought you were.”

“Rick just shut your mouth before you regret opening it again. 

Rick just looked away disgusted with him, really all of them. He needed air and decided that at this moment it was best being away from them. He walked away towards the main floor of his bar and took a seat. He ordered a shot of scotch and downed it. Five minutes later, it was Ryan who came to find him. He jerked a little when he placed his hand on his shoulder.

“Castle, Jim wants to see you back in your office.”

“Ryan, go back and tell him he can wait. I’m not in the mood to talk right now.” He said as he tilted the third shot of scotch straight down his throat.

“Rick, come on this isn’t you. Hear the man out. He regrets what happened before when you were over at his place. And just between me and you, I think he fell and fell hard.”

He turned and observed him not knowing if he was serious or not. Joking about someone’s sobriety is not the way to get his attention. But it did explain a lot about his attitude earlier. He ordered one more shot and slammed it back. He rose from the barstool and headed back to his office hating the thought of Jim being drunk with every step he took.

Xx

Was she Lola? She can’t remember being called that in the past. Lola. She did like the name. Did she look like a Lola? Was she married? Did she have children? She’d ask these questions and much more later when that guy came back. She looked down seeing her naked body and thought that there’s no was that she’d had any children yet. Her lower abdomen was missing the telltale signs of giving birth sans stretch marks. And since she was an Ex-Russian agent having kids would be a liability for her to be used against her. So, no, no she had no children. But why did she keep seeing that young redheaded girl? She had to be important. Maybe, someone, she was sent to save? Maybe someone for her to eliminate? But whoever she was those images were fading from her mind as well. The heat had made searching her thoughts nearly impossible. She was noticing that she had lost even more weight and she was grateful that they were at least keeping her alive with whatever was traversing her veins. But she wanted to sink her teeth into a nice thick juicy steak so badly she could taste it. Did she even like steak? 

Xx

Ganz tapped the icon on the tablet for the temperature program and it went dormant while Gary was gathering the next round of his cocktail for her. Russell already had the next round of TPN ready as well. They loaded everything onto the steel rolling table and on the way out of his office Gary stopped and picked up a second smaller duffel bag and threw it onto the table as well. They walked to her room and after unbarring the door they waited and listened. The door was pushed open in a quick swing and Ganz noticed that she had her eyes trained on the door like she was anticipating their arrival. Ganz had assumed his spot behind the high-intensity light so he could remain anonymous. Gary walked up to her and noticed that her TPN was just about empty. He removed the empty bags and hung three new full ones. When he was finished, he inspected the ports he used in each arm for any infection. Finding no evidence of any infection he wiped each port with a sterile alcohol wipe. He noticed that she was itemizing his every move. He hung the fresh bag of Phenobarbital, stretched the line out and inserted it into the port in her right arm. The drug was flowing freely. While that was doing its job, he repeated the process with her left arm. There was one small change though the lab grade LSD was increased from 25% to 50% with the dextroamphetamine and from this point forward it would be her limit until she was done with her reconditioning. He waited patiently for her to drop off. At exactly eight minutes he stopped the Phenobarbital and started the dextroamphetamine/LSD mixture. She was quicker to respond this time around and when she strained harder against the straps and he thought that she might actually break through them. He removed his stethoscope from the duffle and placed it onto her chest. Her heart rate was high, but he has heard higher during prior conversions. He waited until she got used to the drugs in her system before speaking. She had a small amount of incoherence during the shock to her system and he could only make out nonsense as she whispered. What she was saying was of no importance to him now. At about the ten-minute mark he asked her what her name was. She raised her head and when he looked into her eyes he saw that she was still trying to sort out memories between her past life and what he had told her yesterday.

“Mеня зовут Лола Блэк.”  
(“My name is Lola Black.”)

“Лола, скажи мне, что ты делаешь для жизни.”  
(“Lola, tell me what you do for a living.”)

“Я русский оперативник. Я убиваю людей.”  
(“I am a Russian operative. I kill people.”)

He was surprised, to say the least. He thought that she’d use English to respond to him in. But the fact that she responded in Russian was an added bonus by keeping her cover intact.

“Отвечайте на мои вопросы по-английски, пока я не скажу вам обратное.”  
(“Respond to my questions in English until I tell you otherwise.”)

“да”  
(“Yes.”)

“Lola, listen to me carefully. You were born in Russia near Ozersk in a small village called Kasli. You are one of about 16,000 people who live in this village. Your upbringing was basic and your mother and father tried their best to give you what you needed to have a happy childhood. When you were old enough to attend school, you excelled in every subject you studied. You were most interested in mathematics and history. By the time you reached secondary school your thirst for history had taken precedence. This is when the agency noticed your abilities to retain just about everything you were taught. But they waited until you had decided to move to a university before recruiting you into their ranks.”

“Why was I so important to them?”

“Your mind was like a computer. You could figure out complex equations with ease. The agency learned that you were far advanced than students at the university level and after your entry into the agency they sent you to the university on their dime.”

“What did I do for them at first?”

“When you graduated at the top of your class your first missions were more or less information gathering.”

“Who was I getting this information from?”

“Foreign heads of state, diplomats and corrupt industries.”

“Have I ever killed someone?”

“Yes. But your first kill was a necessity. If you did not kill this woman you yourself would not be here today.”

“Woman?”

“Yes, a woman. She decided to play both sides of the fence, and that was her last mistake.”

“What happened to my mother?”

“That’s a sad event I’m afraid.”

“I have the right to know. So, tell me.”

“You do have the right to know. You were on a mission to flush out a mass murderer seeking refuge in St. Petersburg. When you found him he was unpredictable. Your parents were in St. Petersburg attending the ballet they had no idea you were there. It was only by chance that the ballet ended then the crowd emptied out of the theater and he had taken your mother hostage at random and used her as a shield. He knew that you were hunting him and when you tracked him to the theater, he noticed that you were close and were going to apprehend and detain him. He panicked and dragged your mother into the alley next to the theater. By the time you entered the alley, he already was holding a knife to her side threating that if you advanced further he’d kill her. When you yielded momentarily he took advantage of your hesitation and he stabbed her in the liver. Then to make sure that you would suffer forever, he slit her throat.”

He looked at her and he noticed that tears were falling from her eyes and running down her cheeks. He decided that the subject matter was a bit much so he switched topics.

“Lola, are you still with me?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Good. Let’s move onto a lighter and more satisfying time in your life.”

Lola raised her brow in confusion wondering what he had meant.

“There was a time in your life when you found the perfect man. You were serious about him, so much so that you and he wanted to make a lifelong commitment to each other.”

“What was his name?”

“Dimitri Vasiliev. He was an agent as well. You met him on a later mission. You were taken with his abilities.”

“Abilities? What was he able to do?”

Gary takes the picture of “Dimitri” from the smaller duffle bag and holds it up in front of her so that she’ll see only his face and nothing else. He places his hand on her clit and starts to massage her. At first, she tries to resist but after being void of any type of sexual release she gives in, quickly. Her eyes roll back into the back of her head and her lids close slightly.

“Lola, Dimitri loved to please you like this.” Gary used his thumb on her nub applying a little more pressure. “He’d tie you up to the bed you shared and made you come time and again.”

“He did? Ahhhh that feels so good.

Gary massaged her clit harder spreading her lips apart and with the juices she was releasing, he knew that she would come quickly. He heard her moan a little bit louder and he told her to focus only on his picture in front of her. She opened her eyes and did.

“Dimitri was a man who made you feel like there was no other man for you. He loved you.”

“Mmmm, he did.”

Gary had her now. He spread her outer lips and inserted two fingers into her pussy and worked them in and out. Slowly at first but as he picked up more friction as she tensed wanting more. So, he gave it to her. It happened quickly he felt her inner muscles contract keeping his fingers locked in her grip. What happened did not surprise him. She squirted all over the floor and his forearm. When she did finally release his fingers, he brought her down from her high. He rubbed her clit until she fell into a euphoric state. She repeated his name over and over again.

“Lola, look at your lover.”

She raised her head and looked at the picture of Dimitri. She gave a slight smile and he stopped rubbing her. He stopped the drugs and removed both IV lives, cleaned the ports and secured them. What was going to happen next was Ganz’s job. He knew now with her short-term memory mostly obliterated that she would not recognize him from any video or picture she had seen prior to today. He stepped out from behind the light and stood in front of her. 

“Lola, my name is Shawn. I’m the man who gave you refuge within my organization when your mission had been compromised and the agency you were loyal to abandoned you. Now I need to know if you are willing to pledge your loyalty to me without question for what I can offer you and become a member of our organization permanently.”

“I will.”

Ganz turns back and picks up a white-hot branding iron that’s been sitting in the coals of a very hot fire. He walks back and gets close enough for her to feel the heat that the brand carries. Just as he is about to apply the brand making her his property, Gary stops him before he can act. He moves in close and whispers to him and Ganz nods, once again moving the brand towards her. His initial target was her stomach right above her pubic bone. But with Gary’s information, he changes his target. He gets close enough to see it and he applies the brand to the one-inch purple butterfly that is sitting right above her left hip. The brand sears into her skin marking her as Ganz’s property and eliminates the tattoo all in the same move.

The pain is excruciating and she screams at the top of her lungs, then passes out from the pain that she has just felt. Gary has the disinfectant and slave ready to be applied on a 4x4 sterile bandage and applies it the new symbol. Before he covers the wound, he looks at the brand. There’s a one-inch bar about two inches in length mounted inside of a circle with an “R’ on top of the bar and on the bottom, is the letter “G”. The one-inch bar completely covered tattoo with no visible evidence that it had ever been there.

Gary nods to Russell and they gather up their equipment. Everything is on the rolling table and they leave. Lights off and door barred once again. 

“I’m thinking ECT.” Gary told Russell while the sat in his office after cracking open a beer.

“Why are you thinking this? It’s only been three weeks since we started her conversion. So far, she’s complied with whatever we told her. She’s not going to be ready for something as big as this. Do you think that she’s remembering anything from her old life?”

“There was a time earlier in today’s session that she questioned me with her eyes about Dimitri. She believes he was her boyfriend, but I did notice a bit of resistance.”

“Will this be a problem? Oh, and by the way thanks for the idea about the tattoo. We don’t need anything to remind her of who she was.”

“No problem. As it is right now, she has no way left to identify who she was. Let’s give her a 12-hour period to recover… somewhat. When we start week four, I want to start to ween her off the LSD percentage. We don’t want her to become an addict.”

Ganz looks at him with a raised eyebrow.

“What? I’ve seen it happen. And when it did the subject became useless to the agency so they were terminated.” 

“I agree. Will you use the same approach with her other lover?”

“No. Mikhail was another type of sick bastard altogether. He was into bondage and S&M. This approach will bring her evil side out of hiding. I read the notes in her file and she was more or less into being dominated. And according to Mikhail’s file, he was a member of many BDSM dungeons around Moscow. He was into pain as well and this will once again help with our cause when the time comes.”

“What do you think? Two months?”

“Let’s get to the one month mark and reevaluate where we are. I don’t want to lose this one. We’ve invested too much time and effort for this to fall apart thinking we have succeeded.”

“I agree. I am going to need a solid month to train her. The M-24 will be her beginning weapon. It’s basic and from there we’ll move up to better weapons. And then even though she was a cop, there will need to be refresher courses in a multitude of areas. Her procedural and muscle memory should be a help but we need to see how much she retains after your done with her.”

“You might be surprised at what will come back to her with ease without her really remembering it.”

Xx

Jim had admitted that he had taken two shots of whiskey at his favorite hangout. He was feeling weak and Rick really did not want to hear his pathetic excuses.

“Rick, I was lost! I have no idea where my daughter is, what would you do if you lost Alexis?”

“Don’t give me that Jim! I’m not going to sit here and listen to how you had a moment of weakness! That’s why you were so full of fire when I came to see you earlier at your pace, you were lit.”

Rick just sat back in his office chair, when Ryan decided to chime in. 

“What we need is to go out to LA and look into what happened after she landed.”

Jim, Rick, Espo all raise their heads and look at Ryan.


	13. Chapter 13

The memories she’s having are hard to distinguish. The redheaded girl is significant to her somehow, she just doesn’t know how significant she is. Her face is familiar but that’s about all she can grasp now. She had been told she was sent on many missions, most missions ending with her terminating her target. But they are still memories of her with a gold shield clipped to her waistband, but those memories along with the red headed girl are quickly fading from her mind. She remembers having shared an apartment with Dimitri. This is the image is foremost in her mind now. She loved the way he treated her. He treated her like there was no one else in his life worth loving but her. She loves the way her body responded when she had sex with him. And she does remember when he used to make her come. He had always pleasured her needs before he would take pleasure in his own. That’s the thing that she loved best about their relationship. But then she’s saddened with the painful memory of how he died. They were both on the mission to stop a terroristic threat towards their government. He selfishly gave up his life so that she could live. The day had started out like any other. Early in the morning, they were both summoned to their section leader’s office with orders not to speak to anyone. They entered the office and sat down. He was quick to start.

“There are terrorists who have placed bombs in sensitive buildings around the city. These buildings have some sensitive and classified materials housed within, not to mention our computer servers, and secret and top secret documents and files.”

Dimitri was the first to speak. 

“What is our mission?”

“You and your partner will go to the tenth and final location and disarm the bomb. You’ve both been trained how to do so along with the nine other teams that are heading out now.”

They both looked at each other knowing that the outcome might be the end of one of them or both of them.

“Yes, sir” was the only reply the section leader heard before they’re up on their feet and walking out.

Arriving at the Ministry of Defense building less than 20 minutes later they were met at the front doors by the security staff. They were informed of the location of the bomb which looked to them like it could take down the whole building and many blocks surrounding the building. Dimitri places his body in front of the bomb's timer so Kate could not see it. Then he made a simple request of her.

“Kate sweetheart, I need you to go out to the car and retrieve my bag. It's in the trunk on the right-hand side marked with a red circle.”

“Are you sure that you'll be okay?” She asked.

“More than okay, I have you right?”

“You do in so many ways lover. I'll be right back.”

Dimitri whispered under his breath as she turns and walks away. I'll love you forever with all my soul. He kneels down and in front of the bomb and notices the timer only has 43 seconds left before it detonates and obliterating him in the process. There’s little he can do to disarm the device before it takes him out but at least he saved her that's what love is all about. As the timer reaches 6 seconds, he reaffirms the love he has for Kate in a prayer.

The bomb detonates just as she closes the trunk lid to the car, she and his bag get thrown back about twenty feet almost ending up on the street. In no time, she gets up and checks herself over, cuts and bruises at the most. It's then she realizes that he sent her back to the car to spare her from dying. She stands up and looks at what's left of the building. She really wants to walk back in there to see if there's a possibility, but with what she sees left of the building it would be useless. 

She's drenched in sweat. Her whole body is glistening with it. She opens her eyes and where she is it's still pitch black. What she has just experienced felt so real. What she was dreaming had to be a real memory one that she had buried long ago she thinks. She tries to return back to sleep, but in this position, it's not the most ideal. When she moves her midsection, she can feel the tug of the strap against the burn. Even with it covered with a gauze she knows that she has been marked as his property when she agreed to his proposal. She has not been to really see it in the dark, but it feels like a large one. She has lost all track of time. When she was first brought to this place she had a good handle on the passage of time. Now not so much. What she thinks was three days ago they brought in an ECT machine. The man named Gary had placed the electrodes on her naked body. She feared what was to come next.

“Tell me your name.”

“Lola Black.” She answered truthfully.

“What is your profession?”

“I am a Russian deep cover agent.”

“Where were you born?”

She hesitated only for a quick second and then she felt the current burn throughout her body. The first jolt felt like a thousand volts had been sent into her. What felt like an eternity was really only ten seconds. The power was cut and the question was repeated. She still had trouble remembering the name of the town where she was from. Before she knew it, the shock came once more. Longer in duration this time but by the end of the 20 seconds she'd remembered where she was from. She answered and was rewarded with a reprieve. The rest of his questions were more of an intimate nature. Most if which she answered incorrectly. By the time he finished with her hours later, her body was limp against the straps. The electrodes were removed and they had both left. She huffs to herself. Three days, was it really that long ago?

Xx

Gary is in Russell's office arguing with him about the application of her last persuasion device three days ago. He knows that it had given them the desired result because now she has total confidence in her prior life as an agent.

“It worked Russ, that was my one and only goal. We have achieved the result we were after. She has no memories of her life in New York. Soon I’ll turn her over to you for your next phase of training.” When Russ did not respond he added more.

“I’ve decided that we should release her this afternoon. And by release her I mean bring up the results of her sadistic lover before she fell for Dimitri. If we are going to do that we’ll need to switch rooms. I’m sure that she’ll be compliant, but with her being naked and strapped to the table for the last month and a half, her muscles have not been used giving her a condition known as muscle and neurogenic atrophy. Not to mention that she has only been fed PTN for the duration. She won’t be able to stand, let alone walk. You’ll need to call in Sergei and have him work on her before she starts her training.” Russ now voiced what he was thinking.

“Agreed. Since she’ll be used to the position, the only exception is that her legs will be spread wider to gain access to her slit. When I read Mikhail’s personnel file, it reads like a roadmap to advanced torture techniques. He was a sick twisted sonofabitch. My only hope is that either you break her and she doesn't start to remember things from her past.”

“Russ, she has never been exposed to this kind of humiliating treatment before. Even when she slept with Sorenson they used the missionary position. It was like having sex with him was more of a chore than it is enjoyable for her.” 

“Let’s play it by ear. Go and get what you need ready and I’ll have a final decision on this before we start.”

Gary turns and leaves for the prep room to get what he needs for this afternoon.

Xx

Ganz opens the top desk drawer and takes out a manila envelope. He spills the contents on the desk and lays down her original passport, birth certificate and New York State driver’s license, house keys, and her permit to carry a weapon. His team in New York had retrieved all of her official documents from her apartment. The cops had not even thought of searching her place until the mandatory 48 hours had passed to file a missing person’s report. Typical cop thinking. He moves the leather portfolio in place and opens it to reveal her new identity. The new passport is issued under her new name of Lola Black. She possesses dual citizenship for the U.S. and the Russian federation. Her new birth certificate and New York State driver’s license bear the same name. He also took the opportunity to give her 3 credit cards also with her new name. He rises from his desk with her original documents and with one swift move, he erases all and any identity she ever had by shredding everything. He thinks to himself as the last document shreds to pieces good by Katherine Beckett.

He walks casually out of his office and towards his newest assassin giddy with the thought.

Xx

She feels nothing, literally nothing. Her body is numb all over. It’s been a while and she wonders if they will release her from this exam table. She hears the sound of the bar being removed from the entry door and turns her head to look. She sees Gary first pushing in the cart with her daily nutrition on it. She also sees items that make her blood run cold. She’s been told about Mikhail and their past life. She remembers that he was a sadist and he punished her…relentlessly. As Gary rolls the cart in he makes room for Shawn who is right behind him pushing in a wheelchair. She expects Gary to change her TPN bags, but when he just stands there motionless more fear rises in her. Shawn rolls the wheelchair right in front of her and stops.

“Lola, this is your lucky day. We are going to remove you from the table and see how your body reacts to certain stimuli. Now I am hoping that you are going to cooperate with me, right?”

Lola tries to speak and it takes her a second. When she does, her voice is unfamiliar to her. She tries speaking and the action feels like sandpaper grating against her throat.

“I have no intention of disobeying you.” she tells him.

“That’s what I wanted to hear. Now I’m going to unfasten the straps and when I do we’ll see what we need to do in order to get you back to 100%.”

Russ/Shawn starts removing the straps as Gary moves in closer to make sure she stays put. In under a minute the straps are taken off and Lola just stays there.

“Lola, try and raise your arms together for me could you?” Shawn asked her.

She tries to lift her arms and does, but she does not have the power or range of motion she knows she had. They only raise about half way up before they drop back down tiredly. 

“Very good!” Shawn praises.

“Now Lola, Gary will be manipulating your legs to get them to bend and stretch.” He states.

Gary moves right in front of her and raises and lowers her left leg many times. He raises it to her chest stretching out her muscles. Then he repeats the process with the right leg. She feels the blood rushing into them and it burns at first. When he’s done, he tells her to step off the bottom foot platform and try to stand on her own.

She tries to move her feet and does. She shakily steps off the table and her feet contact the cool floor. She wavers a little before she can catch her balance. When she does she stands straight up.

Russ/Shawn sees that she’s not as bad as they thought and then asks her to perform a couple of stretches to show them her range of motion.

Shawn asked her to bend over and touch her toes. As she does she feels disgusted to know that they have been in and out of her room and she’s been naked the whole time but she had become so used to this. Her tits drop as she bends over making this more of a reality for her. On the way back up she notices the bandage that covers her hip. Wanting to rip it off and see her brand she starts to place her hand near the bandage to remove it. She is stopped by Gary who tells her,

“Lola, you need to leave the bandage in place. Your mark is still healing and I will change the bandage later. I’ll let you see it then.”

At first, she wants to scream knowing that she is now at Shawn’s every wish. She had agreed to his terms when he branded her, or so she thought. After giving them a good amount of warm up stretches she stands up straight.

“Lola, can you walk to the table for me?” Shawn asks.

She hesitantly takes a step and then another. She is still a bit unsure but she is walking somewhat. He tells her to turn around and return back. She complies. Gary seeing how wobbly she really is he guides her to the wheelchair and tells her to sit. She does. When she sits the tries to bolt up because the chair is cold, but she can’t gather the strength from her sitting position. Russ knows that she’s almost ready for what will come next. When this is finished this will definitely make her his. Gary rolls her out of the room and Russ follows behind him. They cross the hallway where there is a larger room. When they enter the first object she sees is the queen sized bed. All around the room, there are assorted torture devices. Most covered in what looks like hard leather, but some are made of stainless steel. She cringes knowing that most of these machines will be used on her. She tries to get out of the chair to get away but failed still feeling weak and Gary had reached the bed then pulls her out of the chair and placed her in the middle of the bed. He takes straps and binds her wrists and ankles immobilizing her to the bed. When he’s done, she hears Shawn’s voice next.

“Lola, this will be your last feeding of TPN. When it runs dry two things will happen. The first is that you will never disobey anything I ask of you. If you look around the room you will be introduced to just about every piece of equipment here. Once I am satisfied that you will obey what I ask of you, we will sit down together and share a meal and formally sign the contract the will bind you to me. There is no compromise in this matter. You will become an assassin once again reaffirming your skills with the agency that left you high and dry, essentially denying your existence. If you decide that you don’t want to sign my contract, your father will be dealt with. I’ll send an associate to end his life while you watch and after that’s done, I will personally put a gun to your head and end yours as well. Do I make myself clear?”

What choice did she have? She’d never let anything happen to her father, but she felt the anger of his statement starting to rise up inside. Maybe they could come to a compromise.

“How about if we come to an understanding?”

“I’ll carry out your commands on a day-by-day type situation. But I’ll never sign a contract.”

Russ thought about her counter proposal for a minute and decided that that would never work. She’d get to her father somehow and keep him safe. No, he couldn’t risk it.

“Lola, while a compromise is beneficial for both parties, I am inclined to reject your suggestion. You will be mine to do what I want with, there will be no compromise. If you reject my offer you and your father will pay the price.”

Lola thought that she was going to be like a caged animal. Having to always do what is asked of her and like it. Before she could answer him he added more.

“Lola, you will be compensated very well for your efforts. Every completed termination with proof will result in your earning sixty thousand dollars each time guaranteed. That will be in the addition of having all of your expenses covered as well. You’ll needn’t worry about the day to day bills, what to eat, and what to wear. That will be all taken care of.”

She looked over to him and he gave her a smirk that she wished she could wipe from his face. But what choice did she have? He held all the cards. If her father was going to be murdered, she’d have to sign that damned contract to keep him safe. 

“I have your word that you’ll never harm him?”

“You do. As long as you honor our agreement.”

“Then I’ll sign it.” She told him miserably. 

Shawn nodded and Gary walked up to the bed.

She looked around the room while still thinking about the contract not realizing that Gary had come over to her. She is brought back to the real world when he slaps her hard across the face.


	14. Chapter 14

He was close, so close he could almost feel her presence. The only lead he had when he left New York was that an older couple had noticed something odd when they left the flight they were on after landing in LA a month ago. He had decided not to tell her father or the detectives who were supposedly her brothers in whatever trouble she got into but now could care less. It's funny and kind of sad really how quickly your friends can turn on you after a month's time. After he had scrutinized the security video of her getting off the plane in LA, he reviewed it frame by frame again looking for anything that he could use to find her.

That's when he found the McCarton's. Robert and Wendy. They were in New York City to visit their daughter and were on Beckett’s flight to LA. After many calls to the west coast, he had finally convinced them to meet with him. He told them that he was a private detective searching for someone who was missing for three weeks and he had appealed to their parenting side telling them that her father was worried sick that she’d been missing for so long without any word as to where she was. They agreed to a meeting with him and this is why he is on the redeye flight to LA. Of course, he'll also review the airport's security video while he is there. Maybe he can find something more to go on. Security video, he thinks back to when he thought he was onto something and asked Ryan for a copy to look at what they found. That was about the time when they started to care less and less about what happened to her. So, after getting a stern no and told to go home because her case was now a cold case, he casually made his way to the tech lab and spoke to a new girl named Tori from tech forensics. He told her that Esposito needed a copy of her video to review and he was sent to pick it up. After he left her room, he made a beeline for the front lobby not wanting to be seen by either detective on his way out. He spent 6 hours going over the 90-second video and found that not only had the McCarton’s witnessed what they said they noticed, but there was a person that caught his eye. His features were never fully revealed to the camera thanks to a ball cap pulled down to cover his face and a shirt worn by the airline maintenance crew. He’s brought out of his thoughts when he hears the captain announce that they are on their final approach to LAX. He resumes the seat back and the tray to their up righted stored position. The plane touches down five minutes later and he’s headed straight for the security office.

Xx

Ganz not only had an army of highly trained loyal assassins, but he had informants in just about every nook and cranny around the country to give him any information he wanted. Which is why it surprised him somewhat when he receives a disturbing phone call. One of his informants at LAX gave him some information that he knew was coming, but he’d thought it would have taken a lot longer for the phone call to come, but it did none the less. It seems that he is going to deal with another thorn in his side now. Richard Castle had made the mistake of sticking his nose where it did not belong. He’s sure that the ex-detective has no memories of her past life and today's torture will be the final test, but he won’t see all the time and money invested in this project just to be undone by the memory of when they were wannabe partners together. Now was the time to end his quest once and for all. He’d see to that. He picks up the phone and makes a call, it connects.

“Frank, it’s Russ. I have a job for you to handle, discretion is of the utmost importance.”

The voice on the other end is rough and hardly understandable. 

“What do you need?”

“A warning, and make it real up to the point where death would be the only way out. Leave no marks on her, just get the point across.”

“Target’s name and address?” The voice replies.

“Alexis Harper Castle. 17 years old, 5’7” 109 pounds, redhead. No other distinguishing features.”

“When?”

“Day after tomorrow. The time before you take her will be used to track her movements. I want this done quickly and quietly.”

“Duration?”

Let’s start with 5 days and see what that gets us. If it’s needed the next time the two of you will meet, you’ll be seeing her through the lens of a high-powered scope.”

“Received, anything else?”

“Rough her up, threaten to rape her, but remember to leave no marks! I want this to serve as a warning.”

“Consider it done. Payment in the usual manner?”

“Yes. Half now and half when the job is complete.”

The line just disconnects and Ganz hangs up the phone. He sits back and thinks that if this won’t get Castle to back off, he will move to the next step and hurt him where it will hurt him the most. This is his only warning.

Xx

Gary stands there waiting for her reaction. It’s what he expected. Her jaw is clenched tight and he can see the fire that burns in her eyes. Yeah, what they have convinced her to believe is taking her back to the sessions of what Mikhail had done to her, and this was just the way he wanted to start.

“You will not speak until you are told to speak, is that understood?”

While he expects her to be vocal, she surprises him and simply nods her answer.

“You will not come until I give you permission to do so. If you do without my permission, severe punishment will be the result.”

Again Lola just nodded.

“Alright then, let’s get started.”

Gary walked back to the table and pulled out a very large intimidating looking black vibrating dildo. When he turned back he noticed her quiver in fear that this would make her come undone and very quickly. He started by rubbing her nipples seeing them become hardened peaks beneath the dildos probing he moves south. She was writhing and he knew it. All it took was one look to her spread legs and he knew that she would not make it. But he still wanted to see how far he could take her before she did come undone. He traced the dildo slowly down her abdomen and dangerously close to her folds. He stopped and switched it on the medium setting it had and proceeded to tease her with the vibrations. She was fighting it trying to obey his command, but before long she was trying to avoid its touch by moving her body away. He simply just followed her movements. She was panting and her body was now heaving, she was so wet and wanting a release that he wondered if she’d actually done this before. She was strong, but he had thought of that and decided that it was time to turn up the heat. His motions stopped and he switched the vibrator to the maximum. She took a breath of relief thinking she was done but before she could think otherwise he started to trace the outline of her pussy lips, and she gave him a daring look. That was all it took. He pressed the vibrator to her nub and the bundle of nerves reacted as he knew it would. She could not resist and the scream that she released sounded more like it came from a wounded animal. For being as wet as she was, she came, squirting all over the sheets in a way that he’d never seen before.

“Tsk, Tsk, Tsk. Lola, you never asked me if you could come! Now that you did, you’ll need to be punished.”

He reached down between her legs and coated his fingers with her come. Raising his hand up still dripping with her release he placed then in front of her mouth.

“Lick them clean, I want every drop cleaned off.”

She looked at him with a disobedient look on her face her lips tightly sealed shut.

He slapped her face hard, hard enough to leave an imprint of his hand on her skin.

“You will obey me. Suck them clean, now!”

She hesitated for a second and Gary raised his hand once more. Her mouth parted and she sucked each of his fingers clean one by one. He needed to show her that her actions came with consequences. He had always loved the fucking machine. There were many variations of this machine to use but the one he had brought was one that would turn her inside out. Seeing that she’d finished cleaning his fingers, he walked back to the table and removed many lengths of rope from the duffle bag. Looking back at her curious look, he walked over to the fucking machine and placed it at the height where pussy would be when he lashed her into position next to a table with stirrups that he would tie her to. He’d adjust for her bindings but for now, it was set. As he walked back to her he could see that this was something that she would not like. 

“Lola, you have permission to speak now.”

“Wh-what are you going to do with that machine?”

“You disobeyed me, so now you will be punished accordingly.”

“How?”

“Since you love to come so much, without permission I might add, I think an hour of non-stop orgasms on that machine over there should start to cure your disobedience.”

Gary moved to remove her bindings that secured her to the bed. Once finished he told her to get off the bed and walk over to the bench. She obeyed without saying a word but he could sense her reluctance as she walked.

He placed his hand on her hip and he could feel the tension within her. He picked up the rope and instructed her to lie on the bench. When she did, he looked at her.

“Lola, not like that. Tune over, chest on the bench ass up in the air.”

She complied and he drew her hands and arms behind her back. He started to hog tie her and when he had finished with her arms he wrapped the end of the rope around her neck twice so that if she moved, her movements would make her gasp for air. He took each of her legs and placed her thighs in the stirrups and lashed them to the stirrups with a leg tie and pulled her ankles into her thighs binding them as well completing her immobilization. She was spread wide and the only skin exposed was her ass and pussy. He positioned the fucking machine at her entrance, adjusted the height and rechecked the alignment one last time. He went back to his duffle bag and took out a tube of lube and a ball gag. Making his way back over to her, her eyes widened at what he was clutched in his hands.

“Now you can make sounds, but to stop you from speaking entirely I’m going to use this ball gag on you to prevent that.”

Gary strapped the gag in place and secured it behind her head. She tried to resist by shaking her head, but he held her head tight between his legs. He checked the alignment one last time before he started the machine. 

“Now Lola, if you move at all, this might become painful for you. I suggest you just lay there and enjoy your punishment.”

He slapped her pussy hard and she took it in stride by not moving an inch. He unscrewed the lube and entirely slathered the extremely long dildo. Then he slid his fingers down her ass crack and found her puckered asshole. He smeared lube around her hole and his finger before plunging his index finger deep into her hole. With her sudden movement in fear that he would be using this hole, she had shown him that she knew her punishment would not be pleasant. He rubbed the dildo along her ass crack to tease and positioned it against the entrance to her cunt. In the position she was in, she might last maybe 20 minutes before she started to be rubbed raw and beg to for it to stop. He flipped the switch and the reciprocating motor whirled to life. The first penetration was a bit shallow, so he moved the machine closer to her and secured it as to not roll back from her. The third and fourth penetrations her hit their mark. The 18-inch dildo was being buried three-quarters of its length into her hole. He smiled satisfied at the result. He adjusted the speed to be a little faster and then crouched down in front of her.

“We’ll start off with an hour and see if you’ve learned not to disobey me. You can try to speak and ask me for permission to come, but this will be unnecessary when you feel the urge to come just let yourself go.” Gary walked away and let her experience her punishment.

Xx

This was never what Mikhail had ever tried to do with her in the past. The feeling of being fucked by a toy so large was unpleasant for the first ten minutes. But as the machine plunged deeper into her she started to accommodate the intrusion. To her, it felt like the thrusting of the in and out of the dildo had moved to include the sensation she was now feeling in her ass as well, and quickly spread deep into her core making the experience something that could be pleasant. She could not speak but the urge to moan was granted as her body accepted the machine she had her second orgasm. She was ashamed at what she saw as she looked down at the floor and she noticed that there was a puddle of drool with more dropping down. After a while of this, the lube was starting to dry up and the friction that the machine had provided at first was enjoyable, but now that had turned into some pain. Her pussy lips felt like it was now burning. She had no idea of the time that past, but she thought it had been about twenty minutes. There was no way she could take another forty minutes of this, so she started to moan louder to get Gary’s attention. All that she accomplished was to have more drool puddle beneath her mouth. She wished that she had obeyed him, to begin with. More time had passed and the pain she now felt was excruciating. Her cunt was on fire with every pump that the machine provided. She wanted it to stop but the more she struggled the more it hurt.

Gary watched as she squirmed after 32 minutes of being fucked by a machine. She would obey him. He let this go on for another couple of minutes and then he’d offer her some small amount of lube to stop the burn. He would give her an hour to recover and then move onto the next torture device. That was until Russ came into the room.

“How long?”

“34 minutes so far.”

“Put an end to it now. We need her to be able to sit and walk, doing this for the first fifteen minutes proved your point. Now it’s turned to sadistic.”

“She will listen and this will only help her in the future.”

“I want it stopped now. There will be no bringing her back if she fears us and doing this will put her in that mindset. End it…right now.” Russ demands.

Knowing that he has a point somewhat, he goes into the room where Lola is. He moves to the machine away and switches it off, and smacks her ass hard a couple of times for being denied his full treatment that next would be her ass. He removes the gag and unties her from the bench. When he’s finished she just lies there spent. Soon her hands move to her inner thighs spreading them due to the machine rubbing her raw. He sees the friction marks and feels for her so he smears an antiseptic between her lips with his fingers.

“Lola, time to get you off the bench.”

She tries to comply and is a bit unsteady as she walks, albeit slowly away from the bench. He pulls her arm over his shoulder, helps her walk back to the bed and places her back onto it and re-secures her bindings.

“Lola, sleep now. Tomorrow we start reacclimating your training when you were with the agency. This training will be unrelenting and hard, but I’m sure that you’ll do just fine.”

She looked up at him and gave a partial smile. Not for the fact that he told her about the training coming up, but that he had finally stopped that dildo from ramming her between her legs. She tried to get comfortable, but the pain from her core had made that almost impossible, but if she tilted her body to the limit of the bindings, it did provide some relief. 

Xx

“It might seem that I had taken this a bit too far.” Gary tells Russ when he returns to the next room.

“Oh, now you think that. I could see a little pain mixed with some pleasure, but Gary you might have undone all the progress that we've achieved.” Russ admits.

“So what do we do now?”

“Leave that to me. I own her so I’ll need to be the one to comfort her. I’ll play the good guy starting in the morning. What you need to do is get ready for the hand to hand training. This is very important. She needs to rely on her skills to deal with the unknown if that ever happens.”

Xx

Rick walks up the sidewalk to the small ranch house. It's quaint and he can tell that every aspect of its presentation that it is displayed to the perfection of its owners with everything he sees. The lawn is manicured to perfection, the house itself has been painstakingly painted to reflect the wishes of the owners, the planters are all filled with bright colorful flowers that are indigenous to southern California. He steps up onto the wood plank porch and brings up his hand to knock on the door. He waits patiently and in a heartbeat, the door reveals Wendy McCarton. He kindly accepts her invitation to enter her home and she tells him where to make himself comfortable. He does and then without him asking she’s off and into her kitchen. It’s then when Robert comes in from the back yard and has a seat across from Rick.

“How was your flight, Mr. Castle?” Robert asks.

“Ordinary. Nothing much to complain about.” Rick replies. 

Wendy appears with a tray of sweet tea and three tall ice filled glasses. She pours the tea and offers the glass to Rick who accepts it thankfully.

“So Mr. Castle, how long has this friend been missing?” Wendy asked.

I never mentioned that she was my friend. So, she must know that she means more to me. I need to tread carefully here.

“Actually she’s been missing for about a month. And her father is very worried. She was supposed to meet friends out here in LA, but she had never arrived.”

“That’s a shame. Can you describe her to us to see if that rings any bells?”

“Sure. She’s about 32 years old, 5 feet, 9 inches tall, brunette hair, hazel eyes with flecks of gold in them, oh and she has a beauty mark on her upper left cheek.”

“Hmmm, yes, I do think that she was on our flight to Los Angles. Do you have a picture so we can be sure?”

Rick pulls out his phone and scrolls to find a decent picture of her then holds his phone out for them to see.

“Yes, that’s the woman we saw. Sweet girl.”

“Can you tell me what happened when she left the plane?”

“Surely, she walked to the front of the plane and then I remember that we were bottled up waiting to get off the plane. When we started to move again we left the cabin and we were walking almost side by side up the jetway.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, we moved to out left when a man pushing a wheelchair came up behind her. A group of travelers came between us pushing us up the jetway and blocked our view of her. The next thing we both see is that she’s in the wheelchair sound asleep. The man pushed her out of the jetway right past us and into the gate area and then that’s the last we saw of her.”

“Where did you go when you made it to the gate area?” Rick asks knowing that they left without getting anything else.

“We headed down to the baggage claim area to pick up our bags.”

Rick drops his shoulders and sighs. Well, at least he has people who noticed her after they got to the gate area. Maybe the airport's security cameras will have coverage of the gate area he hopes.

“Mr. Castle, I’m sorry we couldn’t be of more help finding your friend.” Wendy says.

“No this is better than what I could have hoped for. Can you describe the man pushing the wheelchair for me?”

“He was an African American. Hard to tell his height because he was bent over the wheelchair pushing it up the ramp, but he weighed about 150 to 160 pounds, brown hair. That’s about all we can tell you. We never really got a good eye on him.” Robert apologizes. 

“This helps. Thank you two so much. If I need anything further, can I call you?”

“Sure, whatever you need. Here’s our email address. Just contact us this way because sometimes we never hear the phone ringing.” Wendy passes him a folded piece of paper with their email address on it.

“Thank you so much. I’ll see myself out. And thank you for the tea, it was delicious.”

Rick gets up and takes his leave as he reaches the front door he hears Wendy call out from behind him,

“I hope you find your friend Mr. Castle!”

He reaches for the knob, opens the door and wishes the same exact thing as he leaves.

He's in his rental car heading back to the airport security office. He needs a plan to view the footage and the only thing he can come up with is offering a bribe. He’ll make it enticing, so much so that he’ll get someone to take it, a couple of thousand dollars usually opens doors. He parked the car and is cautiously checking out the possible easy takers of a large donation. What he notices is that the office is empty. He stops right before the security doors and as he’s about to go in a security officer runs out in full riot gear. 

“Hey, where’s the fire buddy?” Rick asked.

“Hostage situation in the main terminal. All hands required!” the man yells as he runs in the direction of the terminal.

This couldn’t be that easy, could it? He walks through the door and sure enough, the office is empty. As fast as he can he gets to the archive area and scans the computer for the day she was here. It takes a little time, but he can hear the progress of the hostage situation over the two-way radio that’s squawking close by. He pulls up the feed and sees the plane approaching the gate. Then he watches as it is met with the jetway. He switches views and concentrates on the cabin door. It takes time but des see her. Then he moves to the view facing the center of the jetway from about twenty-five feet from the plane. He sees Robert and Wendy being pushed out of the way by the man with the wheelchair and the crowd separating them. It’s what he sees next that stops his heart. The man with the ball cap and the airline shirt sticks her with something that he can’t quite make out. He then runs into her making her fall back into the seat of the wheelchair, then he’s rushing up the jet way. No good views of his features, but he switches views once again to the pick-up and drop-off area outside the terminal. The man is just about running as he pushes the wheelchair now. He comes to a stop at the curb next to a cargo van and Rick sees a second man get out and help the first one throw Kate into the van. They do something to her that he can’t see and the van takes off. The first man just rolls the wheelchair back to the door and leaves. The camera angle yields no license plate number but he does notice something being thrown from the van. He looks around the office and no one is in sight. He burns a copy of the prior two hours of the timeframe as well as the two hours that follow. He downloads it to a zip drive and removes it and hastily leaves the office. He can analyze this when he gets back to his hotel. He has watched the video so long that he had a splitting headache. He wants to call Ryan and tell him what he found out but decides against it. It would be Ryan he trusts between the two but he needs more to go on to find her. Later maybe he’ll call him outside of the twelfth and let him know what he’s found out. Being that it’s early in the morning he turns in for the night. He has something to look into tomorrow and maybe that will lead him back to her. He falls away into a deep sleep thinking just that when his eyes close.


	15. Chapter 15

Ganz stepped into her room. He walked over to where she was sleeping. In his hands, he held what she would be wearing for the next two months. He laid the gray pants, white short sleeved shirt, cotton panties and bra, and a pair of white ankle socks along with a pair of black Nike cross trainers at the foot of her bed. Quietly he removed the bindings that held her secure to the bed, she never woke. Sensing that she didn’t he reached for her wrist to check if she was alive by checking her pulse. What he was met with was a weak effort on her part. She made a move to subdue him, but as weak as she was he was able to brush off her attempt.

“Good morning Lola!” Ganz/Shaun called out happily.

Lola just narrowed her eyes at him wondering what he was up to.

“So I see that you’re feeling a little more adventurous today am I right?”

Still, there was no response. Just more doubt in her look.

“Well, today will change all of that. You will start your basic hand to hand combat training with Gary. Now, I need you to get up and get dressed in what’s at the end of your bed and when you’re done with that then we’ll sit, eat, and talk about what your responsibilities are in my organization.” 

Lola moves to get up but Shaun stops her by placing his hand on her shoulder. 

“Before you can get dressed, I have a doctor who will be giving you a complete physical. He is thorough and will report any deficiencies that you might have back to me. When you are finished doing this, right over there in the corner of the room there is a shower stall. Take a shower and wash thoroughly. There are toiletries placed on the shelf inside the stall.”

“What if I’m not ready… physically?”

“Then we will move onto other areas of your training. You have a lot to cover and you need to have this all up here.” Shaun tells her by pointing to her head. 

Lola can only nod in agreement. There is a knock at the door and Shaun waves the doctor in.

“Hello Lola, my name is Dr. Yates. I’ll be giving you your physical today.”

“It’s good to meet you, Dr. Yates.” Lola says.

“Likewise, so shall we get started?”

Lola rises off the bed and the doctor escorts her to the medical room. She has been nude the entire time that she’s been here and it’s odd that she now has no problem with being this way anymore there’s no shame in how her body looks well, maybe there is since she has not eaten anything solid for the last month. When they enter, she sees that the room is like any other doctor’s treatment room, with the exception of a couple of different diagnostic machines lined up against the far wall.

“Please have a seat up on the table Lola.” He asks of her.

She complies and he starts off with the basics. Heart rate, blood pressure, lung capacity, and reflex reactions. He checks her eyes, ears, nose and throat. Feels her neck for lymph nodes that could be swollen. Then standing behind her he checks her spine for any deformities. Moving back in front of her he tells her to lie down on the exam table. 

“Lola, if you feel any pain or discomfort please tell me.”

She nods.

He proceeds to press on her abdomen and touches various areas around her stomach. His hands traverse upward and he feels her ribcage. He tells her not to be alarmed about what he will be doing next.

“Lola, I am going to check the area that Shaun mentioned to me earlier. Would you spread your legs for me please?”

She does and he turns on the light above his head on. His touch is gentle and he is all business, there’s nothing sensual about how he examines her. He’s finished and he tells her to sit up. He pulls her file from the desk. While she watches him, he writes little notes in the file about what he has found with her checkup so far.

“Lola, what I see so far is that your body is well maintained. However, there are some minor issues that need attention. I’ll explain them to you after I run the diagnostic tests.”

“Is it bad?” She asks.

“No. Just small corrections in your diet. Everything else looks to be in order.”

The doctor walks to the first diagnostic machine and rolls it over to her. He removes the wand and coats it with a warm gel. 

“Lola, could you lie back down for me please.”

She does and he is moving the wand above her left breast. He is watching the 3-D image of her heart beating strongly. He traverses the wand down to her abdomen and views the screen. He sees no obstructions. Removing the wand, he cleans off the end of the gel that remained, stores it back in the holder and shuts the machine down. He rolls it back to the wall and rolls back the second machine. Having seen this before she knows how to respond by being still. He places a lead apron over her abdomen and private parts, then he positions the X-Ray machine above her chest. He walks out of the room when this is done snaps the image and returns. He rolls the X-Ray machine back and walks to his desk grabs a basket filled with needles and test tubes and the large elastic band. 

“Alright, Lola, the easy tests and done. Now I need to draw blood for a blood panel.”

“I understand.”

He prepares the needle and then tells her,

“Now you’ll feel a little prick.” She smiles a little at his comment as does he. He draws about ten tubes of blood for various tests. Finished, he places a gauze over the draw site on her arm, bends her arm back and tells her that she’s able to remove it when she showers.

“Lola, for the most part, you’re all done. Just shower and then when you’re done I’ll go over your results with you.”

“Thanks, Dr. Yates.”

Lola gets off the table and walks back to the room she was in earlier. Other than feeling a little lightheaded she feels okay. Reaching the shower, she places the clothes on the sink vanity and turns on the water for the shower and steps into the stall. She relishes the water and makes a quick adjustment to the temperature. She starts with her hair and even wet as it is it feels so much better now that she’s washed it. She washes and by the time she’s rinsing her body off of soap and the conditioner in her hair, she feels like her whole body is alive. Whatever this training is she’s about to face she feels up for it. She dries off, dresses in the clothes provided for her and returns back to the doctor’s office. She walks in and he tells her to sit down next to him.

“Feeling a little better Lola?” He asked.

“So much better, thanks.”

“I have a couple of your test results here. The blood work will take until tomorrow to come back from the lab.”

“Okay.”

“For starters, you are in excellent health. Your heart is strong your lungs are clear. You have no respiratory infections, and your skeletal system is in good shape. You had a broken wrist probably when you were younger, but that’s fine now.”

“Yes, I remember when I broke it. I was climbing a tree in my parents backyard. A bird flew in close to me and scared me sending me off the tree limb and falling to the ground.”

“Ouch. Well, it seems to have healed up very well. The only concern that I have is your vaginal area. There are some vaginal tears and bruising that I will give you a medication called nortriptyline along with some hydrocortisone for. Take the nortriptyline once daily and sooth your vagina with the hydrocortisone cream twice a day or until the bruising goes away. Stay with cotton underwear and this should clear up in about five days. Do you have any questions?”

“Should I take it easy with solid foods?”

“You should. Do not eat in excess. When you feel that you're full enough, then stop. It will take time for your body to adjust again.”

“My menstrual cycle has not shown up this month. Will it?”

“Being deprived of food and the stress that your body has endured I’d say that within the next three months you will return back to a regular cycle. If not come and see me. Anything more Lola?”

“No, that about covers it. Thank you, Dr. Yates.”

“You’re welcome, Lola. Now I think that you have a meal to eat.”

Lola gets up from the chair and walks out to Shaun's office across the hallway. She knocks and he grants her entry.

“Lola, come in and have a seat. I need to finish up what I’m doing and I’ll be with you in a second.”

The aroma that’s surrounding her smells like heaven. She can’t wait for something to eat and her stomach agrees.

Shaun looks up after reading the last sheet of paper.

“So Lola, are you ready to eat?”

“Yes. I am.”

“Well then, I have spared no expense to treat you like a queen. I remembered that you loved steak, am I right?”

“Yes, you are!”

“Good the first order of business is to get you stronger, build your body up and your muscles as well. So I have taken the liberty of ordering a 10-ounce filet mignon. There are a wide variety of sides to go along with that too. I think that you like your eggs sunny side up so I’ll have the cook prepare it for us. While we wait for that I have your contract here for you to review and sign.”

“Okay, Shaun can I read this contract?”

“Yes, you can. It’s basically a contract that says that you’ll be in my employ and that you are a representative of my company. What you do exactly when you’re in public and when your working is nothing short of an upper management director. This way you’ll not be as noticeable as one would think, giving you the perfect cover identity.”

Ganz/Shaun hands her the contract to read over. And she does. She’s about four pages when she stops to ask a question.

“Shaun, it says here that any target will be eliminated, no matter the age of the target.”

“Lola, there are times when bad people do bad things. That’s not to say that a child might be the one doing these things. But let me stress one point to you, I never take a contract that involves a minor. I even turn down those where the person's age is under twenty no matter what their choices were that the parties involved decided for a hit to come to me.” 

“Good to know.” Lola returns to reading the contract. In the meantime, the chef has brought over the breakfast they ordered.

“Lola, put that down and enjoy your steak and eggs. I have a gourmet coffee selection if you’d like set up on the table behind you.”

She places the contract down and gets up to get a cup of coffee. Pouring it, she noticed flavored creamers next to the machine. She selects one without paying any attention to it at all. She adds two shots of the creamer and takes a very satisfying sip. She stills, as she swallows the sip down her throat. The taste so familiar to her. Her first thought was of a pair of blue eyes. Not those of the young redheaded girl, no, these eyes are deeper blue, more intense. Full of something she can’t place.

“Lola, come sit down, your food’s getting cold.” Shaun tells her.

And just like that her mind is brought back to the contract she needs to finish reading and sign the thought leaves her mind altogether. She devours the steak and eggs. The plate is clean. As she drinks her coffee as she reads the last page and her eyes go wide. Placing the contract down on his desk, she questions what she has just read.

“Shaun, I thought you told me that I was to be paid by the contract, why the change?”

“Lola, I have a lot of faith in your abilities. The amount I changed in the contract is much more, I know, but I think that your skill set you possess is worth much more than I’m paying you per contract.”

“So the two hundred thousand is a year’s salary?”

Shaun looks at her oddly. “No Lola, the two hundred thousand is a monthly salary. It’s all in the contract.”

She rereads it once again and it’s there in black and white. Now she just needs to sign it.

“Okay, Shaun, where do I sign?”

“Sign where the lime green arrows are on each page.” He replies.

Lola picks up the pen and signs where he told her to. When she’s finished, she feels uneasy, like she just sold her soul to the devil. 

Shaun picks up the signed contract and places it back in the envelope, then files it in his desk. He passes her the new ID documents and a training schedule. 

“Lola, when I receive the blood work results back from the doctor and you are cleared physically, the schedule in your hand will take effect then. You’ll have urban combat classes, tactical emergency medicine, and knife training. The weapons part follows after successful completion of the urban combat classes and not until then. In the weapons training, you will be taught differently from your time with the agency. Sniping is our preferred method to eliminate a target. But there are times that we need to get creative in the field if a sniper can’t be used. You’ll be training with a basic sniper rifle until you get comfortable with it's accuracy. After that, you will select the weapon that fits you comfortably. You’ll also be trained in handgun tactics. These will vary greatly from your agency days as well. For now, you are free to move about the compound and have a look around. Lunch will be at noon sharp. Any questions?”

“No, not now. But I’m sure that I’ll have a couple later.”

Xx

Lola decided that she would do exactly what Shaun suggested, so she started to roam around the compound. What she noticed more than once was that in every room she entered money was no object to get the room fitted with whatever you needed to be comfortable. She took in everything to memory. After a couple of hours of walking around, she noticed that there were things that were missing from any space she had lived in prior. There were no T.V.’s, laptops, or tablets or any kind of newspapers that would tell her what the date was, or what was going on in the world around her.


	16. Chapter 16

To say that she had been trained efficiently before she started his training she would have been wrong. What she was doing now is an eye-opening experience for her. Gary had been training her for the last two weeks, albeit relentlessly. When she had a combat move memorized, he not only kept running the same move on her, but he would sometimes throw in a new move that had her trying to concentrate on the new position that was more complex and it never failed that he could take her down easily with the first move he taught her because she would not expect it coming. It frustrated her because she felt useless. Her brain was still trying to get all these moves down right for the first two weeks. When she did have them down, he would test her on every move and give her yet even more to learn. Her day started out in her sleeping area. She had taken it upon herself to be more physically able to make it without faltering during the day. So, she started a mini training class of her own. She started with sit-ups then worked her way onto pushups. By the time a half hour had passed she more than felt the burn in her muscles. But that was not all she did. She tried to prepare her mind for the day to come mentally. This usually calmed her enough to be able to learn everything she needed to learn and retain it. There was nothing she could do otherwise because Shaun kept here secured in her room when she slept. During breaks in her training sessions, she'd be able to roam around and explore. She liked the fact that she was able to look around because it gave her more information on her new boss. 

Xx

“Gary, I need you to tell me the truth is she able to learn what you are teaching her… wait let me rephrase that if she were on a job, could she handle herself to the point where she could make a clean break from a scene if she needed to?”

“I’ve given that some thought. While I’m sure that she can handle anything that she faces and better than most of the men and women that I have trained in the past she has an intuition about her that scares me. She can look at a situation and plan on how it will work out in her head before it happens. It’s creepy, but for her, it works as an advantage in a threatening scenario.”

“So she’s adapting better than you thought?”

“Yes, she has more awareness now than when she was a cop. They gave her training and I just built on it to get her where she is now.”

“How much longer does she need in hand to hand before you move onto weapons training?”

“A safe bet would be one more week, then we’ll give her a day or two off to let this sink in and after that I have an idea I wanted to run by you.”

“And that is?”

“The compound in the mountains has a ranch style house sitting on it. What I want to do is set up a decoy in the house and have her take him out. The decoy will be one of my weapons instructors and he’s good. This way I can gauge if she has kept all the information I taught her. It will be a live test.”

“I think that that could be arranged. Let’s set it up for next week when she’s done. Then we can get her started on weapons.”

Xx

Alexis knows that there is someone following her and she’s tried to lose him or her to the point where her avenues of escape are becoming less and less. She has the subway or the city streets. The subway is not an option because there is nowhere to go once you’re down there. So, she stays on the streets. Even with all of her maneuvering, she can hear whoever it is getting closer to her. Then the panic takes over and she breaks out in a run heading for the loft. She’s almost there when she feels a hand pull her backward by the collar. Her forward motion stops as he wraps his arm around her neck. She tries the move that Espo taught her and she raises her foot and slams down hard on his. She feels her heel connect to his foot but his grip never falters from her neck. She tries to ram her elbow into his midsection but he must have anticipated the move and turns her away from his body at the last second completely missing her mark. He continues to compress her throat and she is finding it harder to breathe. The last memory she has is of the loft’s only light left on by the big picture window before she passes out.

When she comes to much later she is bound to a chair and her captor is stroking his hand across her chest coming dangerously close to her breasts. She is gagged as well and tries to voice her displeasure with his actions but all that is heard is a muffled noise. Now completely awake her light blue eyes track him and he sees that she is back with him.

“Miss Castle, I’m afraid that you’ll be here for quite some time. You see your father has been doing something that my boss finds a little too personal.”

Alexis looks at the man with a raised eyebrow. Her father has been gone for a week now, and she has no idea where he went to. He had only left a note telling her that he’d call to let her know that he arrived and that he would be back very soon. That call was six days ago. Now she wonders what he’s been doing since then that warrants her abduction. Whatever it is it can’t be good.

“You Miss Castle will be the one to pay the ultimate price for your father’s sins. Consider this a warning, I will be ruthless in showing him that we have you because his little girl’s virtue will be in question shall we say.”

Alexis struggles against the ropes that hold her to the chair. It’s useless to fight because she can’t move anything. He walks up to her and slaps her hard across the face. So hard she can feel the burn of his hand.

“Tsk, Tsk, Tsk, Miss Castle there is no way that I would be so inept with your bindings. So you can stop struggling, it’s pointless to try.”

Her captor moved away from her and unzips a small tote and withdraws a double edged knife. He walks back towards her and she can see the menacing look that comes across his face. He draws the blade up and grazes it along the soft skin of her cheek. She winces at the feeling of the cold steel. The blade travels down to her throat and lingers before moving once again to her shoulder. She suddenly remembers that the light jacket she was wearing before all this happened in now absent. She’s only wearing a tank top and the blade is coming dangerously close the flimsy material of the strap that keeps it on her body. He looks down at her and sees the fear showing in her eyes knowing that he has the power over her to do whatever he wants. This is part of the plan, she needs to be ready for the call he will make later to her father. In one efficient swipe that blade cuts through the material effortlessly. Without haste, he cuts the other strap away and pulls the remaining garment away from her body. 

He’s taunting her she thinks. While he’s doing this she knows that she is being held here to send her father a warning. But the fact that she’ll be topless within a minute does not go over well in her mind. She knows that her father will get a picture of her being assaulted and the warning will work. But it’s the fact that he’ll see her in this condition that worries her the most. He’ll be ruthless in trying to get back to her, to save her and she thinks that he will do something impulsive where he’s at putting him in even more danger. Her captor unsnaps the front clasp to her bra and of course, she tries to move out of his reach but it’s useless. Her breasts fall from the bra and he pulls each half away from her chest exposing her. What she had not counted on is what he does next. He roughly takes her breast and mauls it. He then pinches her nipple and pulls it hard and twists it as he pulls forward. The pain is immediate and she’s screaming through the gag. Before she knows it the same is happing to its partner. Pain is something she cannot deal with and tries to swing her leg away to kick him, but she’s tied up too tight to carry out the kick.

The mauling stops and he takes out his phone. Opens the camera app and with his prominent hand raises the blade just above her nipple in the fleshy part of her breast and draws the blade across it ending with more pressure until he draws blood. The blood runs down her breast and it collects on her pant leg. He presses a button on the camera app and then walks away. 

He types out a text, attaches the short video and hits send. He knows that Ganz wants more in the way he started, but they have five days together and it can wait. His phone rings and he’s quick to answer it.

“Yeah.” He says.

“This is a good start. The video will be sent to him and when we get a call from him I’ll tell you how to proceed depending on the outcome of the call.”

“Understood. Anything else?”

“For the moment no. But let her think that you can be impulsive at any moment. This way she’ll be more on edge giving us the fear we need to get our point across.”

“Right.”

The call ends and he turns back to his charge. 

“Miss Castle, we’ll see how long you’ll be with us. Your treatment depends on how your father will react to what he sees. Hopefully, he will realize that he shouldn’t be sticking his nose in places it doesn’t belong.”

Xx

Ganz takes an untraceable burner phone with no number to be visible to the person receiving the call. He sends a text to Mr. Castle with the attached video of his daughter being assaulted. It will be a quick response one that he hopes will send him a very clear message.


	17. Chapter 17

He’d checked out of his hotel and is now standing on the sidewalk waiting for the bellhop to come down with his bags. The concierge had waited before calling a cab for him. He thinks that he’ll never find Kate. His search had become an endless fight to find her but after Ryan had called him last night after looking over the footage he sent him, he told him that the van was reported stolen four days prior to her being taken. Even though the security camera had no actual image of the plate, barely an outline, Ryan concentrated on the area where plate should have been and was able to get it clear enough to read. The man who dropped her in the wheelchair was never found and he hated that he would return to back home empty handed. Feeling his phone vibrate on his hip, he thinks that one of the boys are calling him with an update. Pulling it out he notices there’s a text with an attachment. It’s odd because the sender's number is not displayed. He clicks on the attachment after reading the short message that said; “What happens to her, depends on you!” The video clip opens and he’s watching as the view zooms into focus. Her eyes are the first thing he sees and what shocks him the most. The amount of fear within them has him stumbling forward towards the concierge desk. His free hand goes over his mouth before he lets out a cry. His little girl is tied to a chair, she’s topless and gagged. But then the video gets worse. He watches as the knife trails her ivory skin lightly at first but then he sees the blood running down her chest and drip onto her leg. The video ends and he still stands there staring at a black screen. He almost drops the phone when a new text pings its arrival. He opens it fearing what could be next. “If you want to keep her alive be on the next flight out of LA.” Not wanting to see her go through this he is already asking the front desk for flights back to New York. They tell him that they’ll have information for him in under five minutes. He replays the video again just to see her. The time is stamped on the frame and this was taken two hours ago. It ends and then he’s dialing Ryan. “Detective Ryan.” “Kevin it’s Castle. They have Alexis. She’s being held, hostage. We need to get to her.” “Whoa, slow down Castle. Who’s got her and how do you know?” “Kevin, I was just sent a video of her being cut with a knife. She’s in trouble, help me!!” “Rick, do me a favor. Send me the video and I’ll get started on analyzing it here.” “Right, I’m sending it after we’re done.” Kevin could hear the despair in his voice, whatever he had received it wasn’t going to be good. “Rick, we’ll find her just worry about getting your ass back here.” The call ends and 30 seconds later Kevin has an incoming email from Castle. “Kev, what was Castle all worried about? Was it because LA’s not sunny and hot enough for him so he can work on his tan?” Kevin can’t believe his partner. Always trying to put Castle down. If he only knew how much he helps when he’s there with them he’d think differently but now he has to face his daughter being taken. “Javi, someone’s got his daughter. She was taken this morning. He’s sending a video for me to scrub.” Espo literally falls out of his chair when his feet slipped off his desk when he heard what happened to Alexis. When he stood back up from the floor with a look he knew all too well. He’s transformed into the special ops hunter. Kevin opens Castle’s email and clicks the text link for the video. The video is blank to start, then it becomes lighter. What they see has them looking on in total shock. Alexis is bound to a chair and she’s gagged. They can tell that she’s trying her hardest to resist her attacker but she’s practically immobile. Her attacker drags a sharp blade across her breast and by the time he stops they can tell that the knife had punctured her skin and it looks to be deep. Blood collects on her chest and runs down onto her pants. The video fades to black and ends. “Kev, run it again and this time look for signs that we can use to identify where she is.” “On it” Ryan replies. Then he sees his partner get up and head for the stairs. “Espo, where are you going?” “I have a hunch. I’ll be back in ten.” And then he’s gone. Xx Rick was slowly falling to pieces. He should have never left for LA. If he knew what was going to happen to her…. he can’t even fathom what she must be going through now. He heard a phone ring and looked over when the concierge tapped his shoulder. “Mr. Castle, they would like to see you at the front desk.” “Thanks.” Rick heads into the hotel and sees the woman working the desk waving to him. He steps over to her. “Mr. Castle, I was able to get you a first-class seat on a flight back to JFK. But it departs in less than an hour, you better hurry!” “That’s great, thank you.” He’s running for the door and when he gets to the sidewalk the bell hop has just finished loading his bags in the trunk of the cab. He tosses him a twenty-dollar bill and hops in the back of the cab. “Where to buddy?” The cab driver asks. “LAX and step on it. There's a hundred bucks in a tip if you can get me there in less than 30 minutes. He’s propelled into the back seat of the cab from the cabbie mashing down on the gas pedal. Twenty-six minutes later the cab is pulling up to the departure terminal for United. He pays the cabbie the fare and an extra hundred. The skycap unloads the bags while Castle takes out his phone. As he is checking in he calls Ryan. “Kevin, it’s Rick. Did you find out anything?” “Rick we traced the phone that sent the message that you received. But the bad news is that that phone was encrypted. Myself and Tori are trying to get through the encryption to gain access to the person who sent the text to the encrypted phone. If we can get in we might be able to track the senders phone and get a location. If it’s active, that is.” “Good work Kevin. I’m going to be in the air and unreachable. Text me with updates, I’ll get them when I land.” “Okay, Rick.” There’s a shout he can hear in the background and Kevin tells him to hold on. Javi gets on the phone. “Castle, we have a possible lead. It seems that Alexis was trying to escape her attacker. We have street cam footage of her running away from him. We know what time she was abducted and a decent shot of the guys face. I’m trying to run him through facial recognition as we speak. I should have more by the time you get back.” “Excellent. Guys, I’m boarding now. I’ll call you when I land.” Xx Alexis has never been in a situation like this. She’s heard horror stories of course, but she’d never thought she would be right in the middle of one. He had the decency to remove her gag when he forced a bottle of water down her throat, but the second it was finished the gag returned. She was still bound to the chair, topless. It was starting to get cold and she dreaded the reaction her body showed her captor as a result. He could only stare at her making her fear what he would do to her next. If she knew anything, she knew her dad had already got the video clip and hopefully the detectives were trying to find her. They were good, but this guy had a confidence about him that he would not be caught or taken alive. Her captor looks at her and she can tell that he’s thinking about something. _“Damn, I screwed up. I should have never sliced her. Russ said that there were to be no marking her, but the message was to scare her and her father.” He reasons to himself that while he did mark her, the show would get the point across and Ganz never called back when he received the video, so he must be in the clear._ He relaxes a little. Xx Lola has been at it until she was starting to see that she could just about anticipate Gary’s moves. Ganz had been watching her final test for her hand to hand training and was happy with the way things had turned out. She was lean, and almost back to full strength. Her next phase of training has him a little on edge. He knows that her old memories have been wiped away completely and she’s relearning everything to be able to carry out contracts for him, but there’s something that’s bothering him. He knows that her memories have been replaced with their version of her childhood, upbringing, and schooling through her adult life which is what they had planned all along but she seems to be holding something back. It might be a whisp of something she holds onto deep in her mind and that’s what worried him. He watches through the one-way glass as Gary advances on her with a special forces knife, makes every attempt to actually slice her with his motions and she is able to prevent his attack. She moves out of the way grabs his wrist holding the knife, pulls him forward and at the same time turns her body with her back to him. His arm goes over her shoulder and as she does she raises her knee up to his hand holding the knife. When they connect the knife falls to the floor and she draws his arm and the rest of his body to her back, finds her balance and supports all of his weight on her back and slams him to the floor. Reaching for the knife she’s quick to have it pressed against his throat threatening to slice his jugular vein. Knowing he’s been immobilized he pounds his fist on the mat. She relents and gets up offering him her hand to assist. “Well done, Lola! I think that you’ve learned just about everything I could teach you.” Lola just smiles shyly back at him. She has worked hard these last three weeks and she’s glad to see that she’s beaten him. Feeling relaxed she can only look at him waiting. “Since you’ve advanced more quickly that I thought you would, there is one last test that you need to complete. You will be placed into a situation that will be real. Real in the meaning that you will end up taking out your adversary with the end result being his or her death. I think that you’re ready for a challenge like this if what I’ve seen here this afternoon is any indication.” “When?” Lola asks. “First item of business tomorrow morning.” Gary replies. “I’ll be ready.” “Outstanding! Until then we’re finished here why don’t you get something to eat and some rest.” Gary turns and leaves her with her thoughts. He enters the room where Ganz is and watches her thoughts and body movements through the glass. “Do you think this is wise?” Gary queries. “I do. This will tell us her she will be able to cope with her first kill. I think that she is in the frame of mind to do anything to get the job done.” “Do you think that she’ll try to escape by being out able to bolt at any given time during this exercise?” “No, not really. She seems to hell bent on proving herself and getting the job done, although I do have safeguards in place if that does happen.” “Fine. It’s your party. I can only hope that she lives up to your standard of excellence.” “She will Gary, I’m sure of it.” Ganz leaves the room knowing he needs to call his weapons trainer for the next part of her training and to find a victim for tomorrow’s final test.


	18. Chapter 18

Ganz had found a perfect victim. His team had scoured the homeless shelters of Los Angles and found an Army veteran who after checking his background had no living relatives, he would not be missed. He was fed a hot meal given a hot shower and clothed in the Cammie uniform with a UCP pattern. He was then transported out to the compound and briefed on what was to happen next. He was told that the engagement he was to be a part of would result in either opponent’s death. If he was to be defeated there would be an anonymous donation in the sum of fifty thousand dollars to American Veterans (AMVETS) if he was the one to lose. He agreed.

Xx

She was in the middle of her routine in her room, mid-pushup when Gary knocked and told her that she needed to be in the dining room for breakfast. She took a quick shower and was in the dining room in less than ten minutes. When she got there she noticed Shaun and Gary had already sat down to start eating. They told her to sit and join them.

“Lola, today will mark your completion of your hand to hand training. If you are successful you will move onto your next training phase consisting of the weapons that we use on a job.”

“Okay. So, when will I have this final test?”

Shaun looks at his watch.

“In about two hours. This will give you time to eat and prepare for your test. But you need to be forewarned that this will result in you taking the life of another human being if you are successful.”

“I understand.”

Lola had a simple breakfast of toast and butter knowing that a full stomach would be the worst thing she needed now. Finishing her combat notes she looked up when she heard the knock on her door. She knew it was Gary and she was ready.

She was blindfolded and at first, it felt a lot like when she first arrived here, but she was no longer scared. Then a black hood was placed over her head. She was led to an elevator and she felt it rise up. After a short ride on the elevator, she was led to a car or truck. She was put in the passenger side and waited. 

“Lola, your adversary was highly trained as a Green Beret. He is very agile and will most likely anticipate the move you make before you actually do. When we get to where the exercise will take place you will be issued only one weapon. It will be a K-Bar military grade knife. You will be required to defeat your opponent until death is the only option left.”

“I understand.”

The vehicle rolls to a stop. Gary removes her from the front seat and brings her up to the pathway that leads to a house. He removes her hood and the blindfold then her eyes adjust to the bright light of day. Giving her time to adjust to her new surroundings he explains one last item.

“Lola, this will be an urban setting. Your target could be anywhere in or around this house. Keep sharp and remember the lessons I taught you about confined space assaults.”

“I remember.”

“Here’s your weapon.” Gary hands her the knife and she takes it from him. 

“Lola, you’re on your own now.” Gary turns back to the car and gets in and leaves. He drives out of sight and meets with Shaun who’s watching her on the cameras about a mile away.

“Well, how did she seem to you? Shaun asks.

“This should be interesting, to say the least, but as I gave her the knife there was a look in her eyes that had turned primal more than anything else. Call it survival mode.”

“We’ll see if your right.”

Both men look at the monitors in front of them. That’s when they notice that she is nowhere on any screen. They have a visual on the homeless guy, but she’s nowhere to be found.

“Do you think she bolted?”

“I’m not sure.” Then, Shaun has a thought and switches to the roof top camera pans it left and then right and spots her. she’s crouched on the limb of the tree overlooking the building.

“Smart woman!” Gary comments.

“Why is that?”

"She is using the tree for two reasons. First, she can acquire a layout of her surroundings and second if you’re looking for intel on your enemy, being hidden in an elevated position gives you the element of surprise. Who thinks to look up in a combat situation?”

Shaun can only nod at his theory. “We’ll see if this is an advantage or not.”

They watch as the Vet starts to move around the inside of the house searching for his opponent. He moves with stealth but he’s been on the streets for so long that his movements are not that confident.

As he passed a window that Lola has sight of they see her head follow the man past the window and continue on his possible route inside the house even though she can’t see him anymore. She quietly climbs down from the tree and follows a path to the back door of the house. When she gets there, she studies the door and its surroundings checking if there are any trip wires that would be activated. She finds none and slowly pulls the screen door open and places a hand on the door knob turning it slightly to check if there is any difficulty turning it the rest of the way. It’s open so she continues to quietly open the door.

The ex- Green Beret may have been a homeless man, but his training has kept him alive on the streets. He hears the door creak open and finds a place to hide and observe. When he sees his opponent, he has to laugh to himself. There is no way that some women this small will be able to take him out. He’s got at least 100 pounds and six inches in height on her. he watches and waits. As he does he notices that she’s very quiet and observant. He’ll wait until the time is right to strike, but for now, he’ll wait. When she moves out of his sight into another he leaves his hiding spot and walks to the doorway that leads to what might have been the living room.

Lola heard his movements when he left from the alcove by the closet. She knew that she was being sized up by her opponent. He was good damn good but he gave himself away. Letting him think he had the advantage, she hid by the only piece of furniture in the room. It was an old ripped up couch that hid her body well. It would be the first place he looked at to find her, but she would be ready to strike. 

He walked around the front of the couch and could smell the scent of his opponent. He stopped and waited to try to hear breathing or some type of noise that would give away a position. Whoever she was she was well trained. He heard nothing. When he decided to move he took a hesitant step away from the couch. That’s then when he felt pain. He buckled under his own weight and tried to stop himself from falling to the floor and he was lucky enough to hold himself up by holding onto the edge of the couch. He recovered quickly and stood again. He looked at his sliced Achilles tendon and cursed out with pain. 

Lola knew that he was now injured. She had evened the playing field and all she needed to do was move in for the kill. But she stopped and rethought her plan. She did not know if this man would be able to ignore the pain she had just inflicted and still be able to take her down. She would never underestimate an opponent in that way. She waited silently for him to make a move but when he stayed motionless she moved to a better vantage point. Inching closer to the end of the couch, she eased around the side of the couch. She noticed that while she had injured him he seemed more pissed off that he was caught off guard. She retreated back to her first hide and waited.

“Man, she’s good. I never taught her that!” Gary shouted.

“Gary, don’t be so confident. This has just started and she still has to take him out. This guy is one of the Army’s elite and he will put up a fight. I think that she has a 50/50 shot at coming out of this alive.” Shaun said.

They both looked on at the monitors in front of them.

His leg ached, but he would work through the pain, it’s like he never had to before. He moved to come around the back of the couch and the area was clear. He drew his knife out of its sheath and led his way with it.

From under the couch, Lola watched as he walked past her. She waited for him to leave the room and then rolled out from under the couch. Getting into a crouched position she peered over the top of the couch. She saw him as he turned the corner and moved towards the kitchen from the hall. 

She had an advantage. The dining room was connected to the kitchen by a separate entrance. She walked over to the door and she could hear him shuffling through the kitchen.

Taking up a defensive position by the door that led to the kitchen she waited with her knife ready. She only realized her mistake too late. The door swung from the opposite side leaving her vulnerable to attack. The door quickly swung open and his knife was slicing through her midsection. He went to strike again and she sliced his arm with her blade while holding her side. If anything, it made him more pissed off. Lola retreated to the center of the room and took stock of her wound while he did the same. His strike missed anything vital and she would survive. She watched as he moved forward to strike but due to his leg injury he was off balance and she avoided his blade. As he passed by her she plunged her knife into his upper back under his shoulder blade and twisted. As she removed her weapon he cut her inner thigh trying to catch her femoral artery. The pain was instant. He fell to the floor and she quickly landed on top of him with her blade tightly against his throat. 

He knew that he was beaten. He dropped his blade and waited for the inevitable. When she did not take his life, he looked up at her. In her eyes, he saw nothing but fury.

“Do it.” He stated.

Looking down at him she granted his wish and slid the knife deeply across his throat slicing his jugular causing him to slowly bleed out. She removed her knife, pulled his shirt tail to the shank of her knife and wiped it clean. Rising up Lola made her way back through the kitchen and headed for the back door.

Xx

“So Shaun, did she pass your test?” Gary asked.

“She did. Now I want her taken care of. Treat her wounds and let’s get her back to the compound. I think that she’ll be an excellent asset to have in the field. But it is the final test that I am concerned with. The drugs and torture she was subjected will tell us if her mind was really wiped clean of any old memories from the detective’s past.”

“Why, what do you have in mind for her?”

“She will be assigned a contract. One that will tell us for sure if your mind games worked the way we hoped they did.”

“Who’s the contract?”

“In due time my friend, in due time…..”


	19. Chapter 19

The doctor had been in to see her for her injuries but when he thoroughly looked her over his work was only starting. And this was more than she liked. First, he treated her wound near her femoral artery. He used a local anesthetic and stitched the wound.

“Lola, I must tell you that you are a lucky woman. If this slash was another inch higher, it would have been fatal.”

“I’m just glad that it wasn’t.”

“Tell me something, what happened to your opponent?”

Lola sat there while he treated her thigh and looked up at her with a concerned look when he moved to treat her arm.

“Doctor, let’s just say that you won’t be treating another patient anytime soon.”

“I’m glad that you have kept my services for your own needs.”

Lola thought back to the “test” she had been a part of. She had made many rookie mistakes. Too many to think about but she needed to correct her mistakes before she was sent on a job in the field and with these mistakes that would become a problem in completing the job she was given. She did not want to piss off Shaun. She would talk to Gary and in her spare time she would work with him to become better.

The doctor was finished dressing her wounds and she asked him a couple of questions.

“Dr. Yates, will I be able to bathe after all the good work you have done?”

“Lola, it’s fine. The stiches in your thigh as well as your arm are dissolvable and they are able to get moist.”

“Since my last check up a month ago I was wondering if you could examine the area that was affected the last time you were here. I just want to be sure that I am still able to feel like a woman should feel when she is pleasured by a man. Is that weird?”

“No, not at all Lola. I’m glad that you brought this issue up. I had planned to ask you about it, but since you brought it up… could you disrobe and put on a gown so I can see if you’re infection has cleared up?”

“I can.”

Lola retreats to the changing area and strips her clothes off putting on a basic paper hospital gown.

“Why the hell am I worried about having pleasure down there?”

Lola returns quickly and sits on the exam table.

“Alright Lola, can you lay back for me?”

She does and he examines her vagina and vulva and her inner thighs. She was infection free and the rash on her thighs had almost disappeared. 

“Lola, the perception I gave you for the salve, has it run out?”

“Yes, about a week ago.” She said as Dr. Yates helped her up to a sitting position. He turned to his bag and brought out a medical sample tube of the salve she had been using.

“This should be enough for you to clear up what’s left of the rash. Overall aside from your new battle wounds how are you feeling?”

“I’m okay, considering. I just had to take a life to pass a test. I know that it was necessary to move further into my training, but after I did it to me it felt wrong. Don’t get me wrong it was a fight to the death but that still does not make it feel any better.”

“That’s understandable. But I can imagine it can weigh on a person.”

“That it can doctor.”

Xx

“Gary, when will Pavel be here?”

“His flight has already landed about three hours ago. He’s probably driving out here if he’s not here already.”

Just as Gary finished his statement a very tall bearded man opened the door and came in. 

“Pavel, it’s good to see you again!” Shaun said with enthusiasm. “How was the flight over?”

Pavel responded in his native tongue. 

“Zborul a fost plictisitor! Nu-mi place zborul cu oamenii de rând.”  
(The flight was boring! I hate flying with common people.)

“Îmi pare rău să aud asta. Dar, pentru confortul meu, poți să vorbești engleza pentru noul student de acum încolo? "

(“I'm sorry to hear that. But for my comfort, can you speak English for your new student from now on?")

“Da. pot.”  
(“Yes. I can.”)

“Pavel, it’s good to see you again. Much better than when we were in Kabul.”

“Yes, this was bad, no?”

“It was. so, what can we expect from your wisdom?”

“My knowledge will go far with your newest addition to the organization, but I must warn you she has to come to me with a clear mind. She can have no reservations about using the weapons that I am going to train her in to kill another living being.”

“I’m sure that she can be trained beyond any of your best trainees. She is very eager to learn.”

“I’ll be the judge of this. You say she is willing, but I’ve seen the best crumble before my eyes. So, I’ll decide within the first week if she’s ready.”

“If you think that she’s not then we do have a failsafe in place to scrub her if it’s necessary. But I’m sure that Shaun would need to be advised as to your decision. He has spent a lot of time and money to get her to where she is now.”

“By scrub you mean termination?”

“Yes. She is at the point where it would be a wash with the time we’ve spent with her. but if it’s your opinion that she can be trained to be an efficient assassin then we will move forward.”

“Da, I will evaluate her attitude, and willingness to accept the training that I will be giving her.”

“What will you start with in her training?”

“She has had urban and close order combat training, da?”

“She has, and she’s very good at it. She is very quiet when facing an opponent.”

“This is good. Her discipline can only help her with the training that she’ll go through. Does she have any handgun training?”

“Yes, she was a former police detective. And from her service record she has consistently shot a 267 or above on the B-27 target for over eight years straight.”

Pavel’s brow rises at this news. 

“She is proficient with a hand gun then da?”

“Deadly is more of an accurate description.”

“We will see.”

Xx

She had taken a shower to feel a little more relaxed. When she finished she decided against eating anything now because honestly, she didn’t think that she could keep anything down. So, she just laid in her bed thinking. She had to become more skillful at a couple of her hand to hand moves. Gary had taught her so much but she was lacking in some more complex moves. She did not really need to use these moves to take out her opponent but she felt that she if she needed to use them, she would have failed. Driving herself was what she needed to do.

She heard the knock on her door and told the person knocking to enter. When Gary entered she noticed that he was not alone. She quickly got off her bed and stood by the foot of it, waiting.

“Lola, the man next to me is Pavel Lupei. He will be taking you through your next phase of training. This man had seen and done things that you could only dream of. Listen to him and learn. After his first week of training you he will determine if you have what it takes to continue the next 5 weeks.”

Lola looks over to Pavel and he only gives her a dark intimidating stare. She just stares back not letting it unsettle her. He takes two steps towards her and stands just about two inches from her their noses almost touching. He stares into her eyes just seeing if she’ll flinch. After about a minute Pavel says in Romanian,

„Curva asta nu se poate afla ceea ce am nevoie să-i învețe. Dacă acest lucru este cel mai bun poti sa-mi oferi, atunci eu mi pierd timpul!”

("This bitch can't learn what I need to teach her. If this is the best you can offer me, then I'm wasting my time!") 

Pavel takes one step back and looks at Gary in disgust. He’s just about to turn and leave when Lola stops him with her response.

„Tu nu ar trebui să judeci pe cineva care ar putea fi capabil să te ia în jos!“

("You should never judge someone who might be able to take you down!")

“Is this so, Lola? Do you think you have what it takes to take me down?”

“If you pass judgement on me before you are able to see what I’m capable of, then that makes you a bigger fool.”

Pavel turns and stands and addresses her again.

“So be it Lola. Training starts early tomorrow morning. I suggest you get a good night’s rest, because you’ll need it.”

Pavel leaves Gary and Lola standing there.

“Well, that went better than I expected. Lola, he is a firm but strict instructor and you will learn everything he knows.”

“I will. He seems to think that I can’t be taught but he’s wrong.”

Lola, get something to eat and then I’d do as he suggested. Get some rest.”

Gary then leaves Lola to think about Pavel.


	20. Chapter 20

She is drenched in sweat. For the last month, she has been working her routine relentlessly within the confines of her room. A room where she is locked away until the lock automatically unlocks and then she is free to leave. She concentrates harder on the pushups she is currently doing now. She can feel the burn in her arms and she knows that any fears she had, and they were many when she had taken her opponents life last month have now faded with all the extra work she had put into becoming better. She has become stronger and more agile thanks to Gary and his extra training. She finishes her two-hour workout, checks the clock on the wall and gets up off the floor. As she heads to the shower she is stripping down to nothing along the way. Completely naked now she starts the water in the shower. She washes quickly and a thought hits her as she lets the water wash over her swollen and sensitive clit. Her eyes close and she can’t help dropping her hand at the area that needs the attention right now. As she splits her folds with her middle finger it reaches straight to her core, she has the memory of Demetri in her head and she “feels” his cock enter her. Her free arm supporting her against the wall is her only means of support as the water cascades over her sensitive lips. Her hand moves faster to satisfy the friction she needs. Within seconds she has the first of her mind-blowing orgasms. Not relenting she continues rubbing her clit and quietly pushes two fingers into her core and soon after her first orgasm, she is once again falling to pieces. She comes down from her body’s high and thinks about Dimitri. He could satisfy her every need. She rinses off her body from any remaining soap steps out of the shower and now she feels stated and happy. So happy that nothing she does today will ruin her mood. Drying off she gets dressed in her black pants and white blouse. As she runs a brush through her hair she hears the locks on the door unlock. Finishing her hair, she checks herself in the mirror. She likes what she sees. She has gained some weight but she’s not completely back to her best… yet. She strides to the door with a purpose and pulls it open to leave. Her destination in the main hall where everyone has breakfast. When she arrives, she notices that Gary and Pavel are talking quietly over a cup of coffee and other people are eating quietly.

Xx

“Today will be a day of repetition for her. She’ll be able to strip and reassemble a Beretta M9A3 in her sleep.” Pavel tells him.

“She is very receptive to her training. I have seen a change in her that I thought would take longer to achieve. She thirsts for information. This makes her so willing to learn.”

“While I don’t doubt you, there will be a lot of information that she will need to keep in here.” Pavel tells him as he points to his head.

“I understand. Now let’s switch topics, because she’s heading this way.”

Pavel looks up to see her walking towards him and Gary. She stops and addresses them both.

“Gary, Pavel, good morning.”

“Good morning Lola. How did you sleep last night?”

“I had a very restful sleep. Thank you.”

Pavel starts first. “Good, because today we will be working with the first weapon that could very well save your life one day.”

“I am looking forward to it. Now, if you’ll excuse me gentlemen I’m a bit famished. Coffee and food being the first business.”

Lola turned away from them knowing that she was hungry, but there was only one reason she was, and it had nothing to do with being famished. She tells the chef that she wants a two egg omelet with ham, green and red peppers, onions and three slices of bacon. While that’s being made she gets a mug and fills it with coffee. She sits near the front of the room close to the fireplace. Although while it’s not burning now, she can imagine a roaring fire as she eats. She is just about finished when Gary and Pavel walk up to where she is.

“Lola, when your done we will get started with the first part of your training. Meet me in the weapons room.”

She nods in agreement and takes a sip of her coffee. The men leave going separate ways and she finishes off the remaining coffee eager to get started. She rises from the table and heads to the weapons room.

Xx

Rick found her in a heap at his doorstep two weeks ago. He was going to head back to the precinct when he found her lying there. She was beaten and bloody and she had never said a word to him. She has not left the protectiveness of her room since he found her, and now he’s past worried. He makes her favorites for breakfast and places everything on a tray and heads up to her room in the hopes that she will at least eat what he made. She has been in a haze and he wonders if she was given some type of drug to get her into this state of mind. When he first found her, she was almost catatonic. It had taken all of his willpower not to find out where she had been for the last six days, but he did. He called Lanie and she had come over and checked her out. When she was done she could find nothing wrong with her physically. Then he knew that whatever happened to her was more of a mental health issue. He was on the phone with the best psychiatrist that his money could buy. But after a week and four sessions nothing had changed.

Xx

Lola enters the training room, one she has never been in before. She notices that Pavel’s posture and attitude have changed since she last saw him ten minutes ago. He’s more focused as she reports to him.

“Pavel, I’m ready to start.”

“Excellent. What I will be training you in will be becoming proficient in the use of weapons. This is something that you should not take lightly. Your life could depend on what I teach you to learn from this point onward. Over at your work area, you will find a Beretta M9A3 handgun. It has been stripped down and if I know you like I think I do, then reassembling this weapon should be child’s play for you."

Lola walks over to her station and looks at the weapon in front of her.

"You were trained in the use of your Russian made PSS silent handgun. The silent cartridge is a 7.62x41mm. This is ideal if you were ever to exhaust your supply of ammunition due to the fact that the AK series of weapons ammunition can be used as a substitute. However, the AK’s rounds are not of a silent nature so you’d be exposed by the muzzle flash and the noise. No silencer is required with the PSS since the rounds combust in the chamber. Because all products of combustion are contained within the spent cartridge, there is no powder fouling or possibility of corrosion from powder residues. This also means that your hands will not be contaminated with powder residues, which may be of interest in the forensic community.”

“The Beretta on the other hand is and will always be your go-to weapon of choice. One will be assigned to if and when you finish this course.”

“The Beretta we use is the 9mm model. It has a capacity of 17 rounds in the clip and one in the barrel. The only difference with the Beretta and the PSS is the use of a silencer. The type of ammo used for the PSS does not require the need for a silencer because the ammo is in itself the silencer. Used correctly these 19 rounds could save your life one day.”

Turning to look at the man in front of her, Lola is itching to get to work. Pavel sees the look in her eye and says,

“Lola begin now.”


	21. Chapter 21

Her memory comes back to her in no time, she has the Beretta reassembled in under a minute and a half. She places the handgun back down on the table but not before she pulls the slide assembly back and locks it into the open position showing that it’s unloaded and ready for inspection. She looked up to see a tight-lipped grin on Pavel’s face. 

“Lola, it seems that I might have underestimated your abilities. Although, we’re just getting started so we’ll see where this goes because a lot remains unseen.”

“I won’t disappoint.”

Pavel picks up the Beretta and slaps a full magazine into the handle and releases the slide. He spins 180 degrees and takes aim at the target ten yards away. Before she knows it all 18 rounds have met the target and they have landed all inside the ten ring. Four rounds have somehow entered through the same hole.

“Well done Lola! Now strip it down, clean and oil it. Be sure to leave it as you’ve found it.”

“Yes, Pavel.”

Pavel watches as she strips the weapon back down and maintains it. When she’s done the Beretta sits there the way she has found it. She places her arms at her sides and gives him a nod to tell him that she’s finished.

“Lola, now we are going to be entering the long-range portion of your training. But first I need to know how well you can handle an AR-15?”

“I’ve had some experience with that weapon. But we only had access to them when the agency had taken them from some dead U.S. soldiers in the Gulf war. We only had a very short training class mostly about what they could do.

 

“Okay for our purposes I have one here for you to train on. This AR-15 will be a weapon to only get you familiar with the weapon that you will use in the field at a later date.”

Pavel retrieves an AR-15 and places it there on the bench in front of her. Then he starts to give her the history of the weapon.

“The AR-15 is a weapon made by Colt Manufacturing Company. The model in front of you is the standard issue U.S. Army semi-automatic rifle. The barrel length is 20 inches long, although they have variations for a carbine and target models. It is capable of using a Remington .223 round or a 5.56 x 45mm NATO round. Agency ammunition will not be able to be used in this weapon. The maximum number of rounds that can be used in the feed system is thirty. The minimum is five. This model is used exclusively by U.S. law enforcement and is available to the general public.”

Pavel is quick to start breaking down the weapon to show her how it’s done and where everything goes in its reassembly. They run through it for the next two hours and he feels that she is ready to fire seeing how well she can handle firing a rifle.

“Lola, let’s break for lunch and when we return we will be going to the outdoor range. I want to see how well you can hit the target.”

“Good, because I’m starving!!”

Pavel leads her to the café and he then leaves her to see Ganz. He needs to tell him that he is going to need to bring her to the outdoor range and that she is going to be firing there for the rest of the afternoon. 

Xx

Ganz/Shaun was watching the progress she is making and he expected the knock on the office door. 

“Come in Pavel.”

“I should have guessed that you would be keeping an eye on her.”

“It’s the only way I can protect my newest asset.”

“Then you know why I’m here. I need to take her to range 3. This is the closest outdoor range, but she will have the option to escape.”

“Pavel, I’m not that sure about taking her out from under our control. The last exercise when she proved to us that she is able to take a life left me thinking that in her mind she wanted to run. If it wasn’t for the added security we had in place before hand maybe she would have.”

“Alright, I only ask you to have the same safeguards in place for this trip as well. I need to assess what she is capable of. Not to mention that she will need to return on a regular basis once we move into the weapon that you want her to take out in the field.”

What do you plan on starting her with after she has had the time to become familiar with the AR-15?”

“I was thinking that the British Parker Hale M85 will be an easy start. After a couple of weeks with this, I want to move to a U.S. made Barrett XM109. The last two will be the French PGM Hecate II and the Accuracy International AW50. Both of these weapons fire a .50 caliber round and if she will be an assassin she will need to know how to deal with something this large. We still have time, but have you decided which weapon she will be given when she reaches that point?”

“I have thought about and I wanted to get your thoughts on which you think is the best fit for her.”

“Good, let’s hear it.”

“The Barrett M95 or the Barrett M99. Both have the capacity of firing a .50 caliber round, but the TAC-50 A1 is lighter than the two weapons you mentioned earlier. The TAC-50 A1 has a new take-down fiberglass stock with a forend that is 5 inches longer than the TAC-50 stock weapon.”

“Let me think about this and we’ll talk again.”

Pavel nods and notices that her break has ended. He makes his way back to the café to see if she is ready. When he returns he sees her dropping her trash in the garbage bin.

“Lola, are you finished?”

“I am. Are we going to the range?”

“We are. Let’s get the rifle packed up and head out now. Let’s see what you can do.”

They walk in silence back to the weapons room and quickly pack up the AR-15. Pavel knows that Ganz is watching and he heads out to the hallway that leads to the elevator. As soon as they complete their ascent he can spot the extra security measures in place if she decides to run.

They hop into a Yamaha four wheeled side by side ATV and head out. Their shadows follow from a distance. When they arrive at the range Pavel runs through the safety rules involved since they will be using live ammunition. She knows the rules and he sets up the rifle and gives her ten rounds to get familiar with the way it fires.

She sees this as an opportunity to prove that she can handle the weapon. She loads the magazine into the weapon and sights in on the target down range. When she is satisfied with her aim, she looks to Pavel who in turn nods and tells her to fire when ready. She does and she is not used to the kick and unfamiliarity of a weapon like this. Her shots are all over the page with some completely missing the target altogether. When she’s finished she raises her trigger hand signaling that she has expended all ten rounds. Pavel looks at the target down range and all he can do is shake his head. There will be a lot of work coming up for her and she will need to be trained with each weapon to get her used to her assigned weapon. It might take a little longer than he had hoped, but he has been surprised by other students in the past. He hopes that she will prove him wrong. 

“Lola, I am going to give you thirty rounds. The first ten I want you to fire at target one, ten at target two and the last ten at target three. Aim for accuracy and we will see how well you can do.”

She is able to see that her shots missed the first target and can only hope to become better.


	22. Chapter 22

Pavel really hates why he became an instructor for light weapons. Her performance at the range was nothing short of miserable. He had her initial shooting target results in his hand and was about to knock on Ganz’s office door. Before he could the door swung open. Ganz stood there and noticed the look on Pavel’s face. It was one he did not like.

Pavel walked through the doorway, walked over to where the whiskey was readily kept on the mini bar and pulled over a tumbler filled it with ice and poured a full glass. Satisfied with the first draw, he downed the rest of the glass and refilled it. Turning to see Ganz still standing in the doorway, he motioned if he wanted a glass also. Ganz nodded and he poured a second glass, walked over to the front of his desk and sat down in the guest chair. Ganz did the same right next to him.

Russell knew that seeing a man’s eyes directly in front of him told him if he was being truthful or not. This is why he chose to sit next instead of across from him.

“Alright Pavel, out with it. Be blunt if need be.” Ganz requested.

Pavel gathered his hopeless thoughts and thought about his wording before he spoke.

“She won’t work.”

Ganz stunned at his statement just looked at him.

“Explain.”

“She’s not receptive to learning the basics concerning long range shooting. She can tear down and reassemble the long weapon with ease, but she can’t seem to get her accuracy on track. She can’t fathom what it takes to fire at a target from a distance. Russell, it’s more than just sighting in on a target and pulling the trigger. It’s a feeling that you gain over time, it’s more of a feeling, but a knowing that you gain. Sure, you’re removed from the life of the target that you’re going to eliminate, but I think that she will falter at some time. You have been there Russell you know what it’s like to sight in on a mark and be at peace with the act you will carry out. I have too. But while she shows signs of getting the job done my gut tells me that she’s not up for this type of work.”

“Pavel, we’ve known each other for a quite a while now. Is there any way we are able to salvage what we’ve invested in her so far?”

“Highly doubtful. I do however need to know if she’d had any high-powered rifle training from her time as a detective with the NYPD. Is it possible to secure these records? I’m not promising you anything, but if I can see those records and her past psyche evaluations for the time she was in the academy up to the time you acquired her they might be able to give me a better direction to follow.”

“It might take some time to get what you want. But I promise you that it will be here before three days are up. Can you work with her until then?”

“Da. Have you decided on which weapon you want her to train with? But a word of advice, I won’t train her on any other weapon other than the one you want to send her into the field with. Let me just get her comfortable with the only weapon that ever she’ll use again.”

“That’s fine Pavel.” Ganz thinks about what might work for her after hearing Pavel’s report. Now he has his mind made up. “Use the TAC-50 A1-A2.”

“Da. Solid choice. The TAC-50 A1-A2 variant was introduced in 2012 alongside the TAC-50 A1 variant. The A1-A2 variant is basically a TAC-50 A1 rifle system only with a hydraulic recoil mitigation system this I think will help her with her aim and concentration since the recoil will be less of an effect with the shock dampened when she fires.”

“Good I’ll have one here by tomorrow. Until then work with her in the indoor range. Use the weapon that comes close to the TAC-50.  
________________________________________

The rush to get to the twelfth was hampered by traffic. When he landed he found only two texts from Ryan after he landed. One told him that there was nothing in the data base that matched their suspect from the screen shot they had. The second text had him a little more than worried. During the flight, Espo and Ryan had backtracked his daughter’s movements from the surveillance cam footage and were able to find where she was held. Held being the key word. By the time they found where she was actually being held she had been long gone. She’d been found on the front steps bound and gagged by two uniforms returning back from their tour. They had recognized who she was and had called Ryan. This is where he is now. Sitting in the most god-awful plastic chair beside her hospital bed. He held her hand and willed her to wake up. For the last hour, she did not make a move. She was drugged with two separate drugs. The doctors think that one drug was used to take her and the other was used to dump her body at the 12th. Since they were still in her system they might have caused an adverse reaction.

“Come on baby, Wake up for me.”

Still nothing. The doctors said that she might be out of it for at least twelve more hours due to the types of drugs in her system. Getting up to stretch his legs he was pacing in front of her bed thinking how badly he had not protected her. The knock was soft but he heard it just the same. He was probably being paranoid about her being taken again. He walked to the door and opened it a crack. There stood a very upset Kevin Ryan.

“Rick, can you come out here?”

“Hold on a sec Kevin.” Rick went back to his daughter’s bedside and placed a soft kiss on her forehead. He turned and walked back to where Kevin waited.

“Kevin where’s Espo?”

“Rick, listen for a second. We, I mean me and Javi think that whoever took Alexis was sending you a message.”

“A message? But no one knew that I was anywhere but here in the city.”

“Rick, don’t you find it a coincidence that Alexis gets grabbed off the street two weeks after you fly out looking into where Beckett was taken? Yeah, this was a warning for you to back off.”

“Kevin, what aren’t you telling me?”

“That someone has been keeping an eye on you. Someone who knows that you would do anything for the woman you love! Rick, you need to be careful. Whoever this is, he or she will stop at nothing to keep you from looking into where she went. It could end up with you dead. Someone went to great lengths to get you out of LA. Now, what did you find out?”

Rick was slowly getting pissed off now. Now that his daughter had been taken and recovered they were ready to believe him?? He had enough and he intended to make his point known.

“Ryan, why all of a sudden are you putting all your weight behind this now? Now you want to believe that what I thought happened to Beckett is real?? Pure bullshit!! Tell me, where’s Esposito right now? Why isn’t he here defending your choice right alongside you? He always had her back, and now he just disappears? And that’s not to mention her dad. He’s just as bad as the two of you are! Never believing that someone else might think that something’s wrong. Always dismissing it thinking there’s a logical reason. Missing person my ass! Sometimes there’s not a box deep enough to fit this into. Ryan, you need to pick sides. Either you’re going to help me or just go back to believing what you want. I’ll be here until she wakes up.”

Rick points to the room his daughter is currently in.

“Then the second she does wake up I’m getting her and my mother out of the city to a safe house, then I'm going back to LA and picking up right where I left off. I WILL FIND HER RYAN!!” he screams out the last part of his statement hoping it will rattle Ryan.

Rick reenters his daughter's room and when he does he slams the door on Ryan’s face.

Ryan draws his wrist to his mouth and speaks into the mic hidden by his jacket sleeve. 

“Javi, did you hear all that?”

“Yeah bro, I did.” Ryan hears back in his ear piece.

“What are we going to do?” Ryan asks.

“Get back to the van. Mr. B. is here with me. We’ll think of something.”

Ryan makes a beeline back down to the ER bay where Jim and Javi are waiting in a borrowed FDNY paramedic van. On his way back down he knows that in his heart Rick is right. Now all he needs to do is convince his partner and her father that they should listen to him.   
________________________________________

Lola reloads the TAC-50 with one round. She’s in the prone position and Pavel has given her some help with her breathing techniques. She waits with her index finger on the trigger and inhales deeply, holds it, and as she exhales and pulls the trigger. Pavel looks through his sight glass and sees an improvement from her last shot.

“Better Lola. But it still needs work.”

“I’ll get there, I promise.”

“Try this technique, it gives you a clear sight without blinking as much. Begin with a goal of 30 seconds. Relax your forehead, jaw, lips, and eyelids, in that order, and give yourself one last, long close of your eyelids. With your eyes closed, take one final large inhale. As you open your eyes, exhale long and go for 30 seconds before you blink.”

She breathes normally while she reloads the weapon with a single .50 caliber round. She reassumes her prone position hugging the rifle into a comfortable position against her body. She runs through Pavel’s suggestion in her head and relaxes everything and closes her eyes. When she’s ready she exhales as she opens them, sights in on the target and fires. Pavel is immediately raising his sight glass to his left eye. What he sees pleases him.

“Lola, it’s inside the ten ring almost a perfect shot. But I know that you can do better. Did the breathing and eye rest help?”

Lola could do nothing but smile back at him. He knew her answer.

“Now to prove that this was not a one-time lucky shot, do it again.” 

She did. And each time she did her aim and concentration had become better. Maybe there was hope.

Ganz watched from his office and determined that she was not the lost cause that Pavel thought she was. Then an alert came up on his phone. The sound told him that he had an incoming pdf file. He drew his stare away from the video screen and picked up his phone to read the file. Scanning the first page, he immediately sent the document to his printer and watched the tray as over 12 pages printed out. It was her psyche eval from his contact in NYC. After it finished printing, he went to the printer tray and removed the report. 23 pages in all. From her intake eval to most recent that was just about a year old. Her Academy eval was nothing but normal. But the third yearly eval had shown him something that he over looked earlier. She was having nightmares about her mother’s death. All because Richard Castle dredged up the case behind her back and tried to get her closure. He failed. Their partnership was almost ended when she told him not to bother coming back to be her partner. Yet he still wormed his way back in. Ganz was really beginning to hate Richard Castle. He would deal with him later. He read on and she worked through her nightmares and Dr. Burke, reported that she was found fit for duty after a seven-day suspension by her Captain for her mental health issues.   
________________________________________

Rick had pleaded with God asking him to give him this one request. He wanted his daughter awake and talking. Then he felt it, the slight twitch of her hand in his.

“Alexis? Come on pumpkin wake up for daddy.”

Her eye lids fluttered a little and he could see her trying to open them. Her hand squeezed his hand hard and she sat up straight in bed letting out a high piercing scream. He was drawing her body into his in a second. The nurses had come rushing in when they heard the scream and when they saw Rick trying to calm her they slowed their advance. They took her vitals working around him and noted everything in the patient notes. 

“Daddy?” she said in less than a whisper.

“I’m here baby. How are you?”

“I’ve had better days. But except for being a little fuzzy around the edges, I’m okay I guess.”

Good when I get the doctor in here I’m going to get you and Grams to a safe house outside the city. I don’t want any arguments about this. I will do everything in my power to keep you safe.”

“Dad, what’s going on. Why are you so worried?”

“Alexis, seriously? You were just taken hostage not far from the loft and held for three days!!”

Alexis just looked down at her hands folded in her lap.

“This has something to do with detective Beckett’s disappearance, doesn’t it?”

“I’m thinking so. So, I will be keeping you safe. Once you get the okay to be discharged we’ll be leaving I’m not taking any chances.”

The doctor arrived about forty minutes later and instantly rejected Rick’s request to let her leave. They wanted to keep her overnight just to be safe. It was then when Rick signed an AMA order and he took her out of the hospital.


	23. Chapter 23

Three weeks have passed since Lola started her training with the long gun....

Lola was beyond happy. She had for the last week shot perfect scores with her weapon of choice, her TAC-50. After she becomes more proficient with her shooting her days have been split in half. During the morning sessions, she would be at the target range until Pavel told her it was time for lunch. They would work with her silenced handgun and the TAC-50. After lunch, she was introduced to the conditions and pitfalls of urban targets. This would be her new environment for the most part. Sure there would be targets that were in hard to get to places, but this is where she will start. However, there would be minor location changes from time to time depending on the contract she was to carry out. She needed to know what to do if she was sent out on a job and situations had become compromised. Shaun had many settings built specifically for her to experience. They were close to looking like movie sets depicting an office building, a mini mall, a residential house and a supermarket. Within these "movie" sets, they were real in every way an authentic setting could be. They were so real that they had stocked the movie sets with people from the local areas for the time she had been assigned her fake contract. Everything that she could face in the real world Gary and Shaun thought about adding to the sets of what could happen out in the field and what to do if she was exposed. In the two weeks that she had been at these small urban settings, Gary, Pavel and Shaun did not fail to notice that she adapted to every situation they threw at her and found a way not only to complete the contract but make a ghost like disappearance in the process. In one setting she had successfully disappeared. They spent a couple of hours trying to find her. She had blended in so well with the backdrop of the environment she was in they never thought she could be so covert. She became a homeless person and they totally overlooked her. It was not until the three of them walked by her a second time when they passed an alley and she called out to them asking for a hand out that Pavel noticed the grin on her face and the twinkle in her eye.

“There is only one question I have for the both of you. You have both worked with her, Gary from just about the beginning and I need your honest thoughts here.” Shaun/Ganz asked.

“Shaun, what is it?”

“Do you think that she will be able to carry out an active contract? But before you answer that the first thought that came to my mind was, will she regress back into her old memories?”

They both sit there a little stunned at his request. But both go into putting their thoughts into the training that they have provided her. While she has excelled in every aspect in the topics they taught her, Pavel has his reservations about sending her out and then just freezing, but he would consider a trial run on a softer target.

Gary wondered if she was solid enough to be an assassin in an up-close setting in the first place, he had his reservations. He knew that the exercise with the homeless vet had shown she could take out a target, cunningly, but in that situation, everything was being controlled. She never knew it, but they knew. And he is concerned if she is put in a more personal setting that she will simply abandon the op. 

Shaun had his misgivings. But this was the first time he actually kidnapped an NYPD detective, brainwashed her, branded her as his property, and retrained her providing her a realistic back story. All of which she had no problem accepting. She had been his captive for the last three months and he thought that it was time to see if she could perform to his strict standards. He had four real targets that anyone of his employees could handle. No, if he was going to see what exactly she was capable of he’d need to give her one of these targets. He would pass judgment after she returned. He would make sure that she was observed from a safe distance by people she would never see. Lately, he thought she had become too comfortable with Gary and Pavel. He really couldn’t blame her because other than the cook she had no contact with another soul in the compound. So, he would let her go and see what she could do. He could only hope that Pavel and Gary had come to the same decision as well.

“Gentlemen? What are your thoughts? You’ve had more than enough time to give this some thought, but as they say, time is money.”

Pavel speaks first. “While I think that she can handle herself out in the field, I would select a soft target for her first op. This way she won’t be as exposed as your other assassins would be. Other than that, I see no issues with her starting and finishing.”

Next is Gary. “Russell, while I think that she’s well trained, most of being an assassin proficiently is what you can learn in the field. I’m afraid if she is put into a closed environment like an office setting or an interior of an enclosed space she would bail on the op. Not that she wouldn’t know what to do, but the fact that she has been deprived of human contact for so long that she’d decide that she can’t finish the job. Call it compassion or whatever you want, but if she is not stone cold with her emotional side, then all this was for nothing.” He said as he swept his arms around the complex indicating she went through.

“True… but we have had her through these types of settings before. Why do you think that would change now?” Ganz asks.

“Russ, you know as well as I do when you take a life from a distance it’s different, it’s impersonal, the mark is just something that you kill from a distance. There is no attachment to the mark from that far away. But if she needs to change her approach on the fly that could change. If she needs to forget about the long shot and move to wet work, well I’m not that sure that she could pull it off.”

“I’ll take this under advisement and have my answer tomorrow. For now, run her through the country setting, but add in a distraction… kids maybe? Or even better a family dog.”

“You’re the boss.” Gary and Pavel leave to set up the exercise. They opt for the computer sim instead of an actual setting. Soon they are updating the scene to add a set of twins around four, and a dog. A loud barking dog. 

She has her hide set up and in a wooded area just south of her mark in less than fifteen seconds, she has a solution plotted for the kill. She sights in on her mark as he lets the dog out through the back door of the house. Due to the twin toddler that the mark is holding close to him, she has no choice but to not to take the shot without hitting the child. Then the dog sensing her starts in an all-out run towards her hide. They sit back and watch what she does next.

Lola watches as the German Sheppard runs at her full tilt. She needs to leave and think of another way to finish this. Her hand gun will be too loud at this distance, so she scraps the idea of killing the dog with it, even though it's silenced. She becomes totally still and watches as the dog slows sniffing the air around him. Once he tracks her scent he starts to growl and show his teeth. She knows an attack is coming because his ears are pinned back against his head. She quietly commands it to back off and avoids eye contact. The dog tilts his head in concern and then advances on her position. She has one last tactic to use but she needs the dog to get closer to her. She extends her hand. The dog takes this as an act of kindness or curiosity and comes closer to her. She draws her hunting knife from its sheath and gets ready to move. With the hand that she is letting the dog sniff, she latches onto his collar, twists it keeping him there immobile and quickly draws her knife across its throat whimpering as it falls to the grass bleeding out. She changes her plan and leaves her hide and makes her way to the house. As she gets closer she tries to decide if her weapon of choice will be a knife or her handgun. She notices that there is only the target and the child there and no other threats. She decides to go with the knife and enters the house through the unlocked door the dog came out. She quietly walks through the house and sees the child in the playpen sleeping. The mark is sitting on the couch distracted by the TV. She moves slowly behind him places her hand against his forehead pulls back and slices his throat. He's dead as she hits the back door in her departure.

The lights come up, the screen darkens and she walks over to Gary and Pavel.

“Lola, why did you change your plan?” Pavel asks.

“The dog was the threat at the moment. Once I eliminated it, I did not see the sense in taking a shot from where I had no vantage point. The rifle would have been useless. So selecting the knife I could get close and eliminate him quietly.”

Gary looks at Pavel and nods saying only a two-word phrase “She’s Ready.”


	24. Chapter 24

Ganz looks over the four folders that were on his desk. The first two were out of the question due to the distance away from LA. One mark was in Seattle, and the other in a province of Mexico that would be impossible to have people there to keep an eye on her. 

After Pavel was sure that she was ready he moved everything back to LA and she now has some freedom to move around the city. He trusts her with the simple fact that she is here with him, living in an apartment building that he owns but he doesn’t trust that she won’t run. He is advised every time she makes a move to leave, where she goes and who she talks to. So far she’s lived like a person who is trying to hide who and what she does when she is working at the travel agency he got her a job at.

He studies the remaining two hits and is undecided about what to do, not that he is undecided on a way one of his other associates would handle this but how she would. He knows she has the awareness of the pitfalls that could face her during the hit, but his only concern is what she would do about being caught. He would, of course, disavow any knowledge of knowing her or even employing her. But he hoped it would never come to that. He always had contingency plans in force for his assassins, but with her, he didn’t think she would need it. In total, he had invested around a cool million taking her, reconditioning her and training her. She was like a trial program and if she proved to adjust to the life he created for her he would think about doing it again. He is startled by the knock on his door.

“Come in.”

“Russ, I need to ask you what you have decided to do about her first mark.” Gary asks.

“I was just thinking about that. Pull up a seat and I’ll show what I have narrowed it down to.”

Gary sits down in front of him and Russ slides the files to him. He reads the first one and thinks about the logistics that are involved to get this done efficiently. He can see only one problem that she might face. He opens the next file and reads. As he reads on, this is hit is giving him comfort this would be a better target to show her abilities to start, execute and leave without exposing herself. He compares the two against each other and decides.

“Russ, the hit in Nevada seems to be the best option here.”

“Why?” Russ asked.

“Simple, it will give her the most cover. She’d have everything she needs and the way it plays out in my head this will be the best option.”

“You don’t think that being on the rooftop will leave her exposed?”

“No. She has had this in training. She succeeded every time. The only concern I’ll have with this will be the advanced time she will need to set up her hide and her escape strategy. Other than that, I'd send her in.”

“I’ll take this one under consideration.”

Gary gets up and leaves giving Russ the time to reread the file. The mark is being eliminated by a highly unlawful Japanese organization. He was caught taking counterfeit money that they had produced, but the reason he took it was to escape the murder he committed is the process of taking the cash. He just so happened to get caught red-handed and shot and killed the organization’s son killing him. The Japanese were always about revenge. They would never accept anything less. The job itself was a straightforward one for his most seasoned associates. He knew that she could take out the mark, it’s just the doubts the location. Vegas can have a lure to it and that is what he is worried the most about.

The way he had it planned out in his own mind the hit would take place on the rooftop of Mandalay Bay across from the target's room at the Four Seasons hotel. The hotel she would need to take the shot from had an abundance of places to set up a hide and leave without being caught with no one being the wiser. He’d tell her to come to his office tomorrow and they would have a strategy meeting to see if she agreed with his assessment. He wanted to see if they were on the same page. The mark would be in Vegas for the next week so he had a very wide window to work with. If he did decide to send her he wanted to do it quickly. 

Lola sat there listening to Pavel telling her to use a blending technique in the public where she could look as normal as the person walking next to her when her cell phone rang.

“Hello.”

“Lola, this is Shaun, I need to see you in my office at noon to discuss a contract that needs to be fulfilled.”

“Yes, I’ll be there Shaun.” Lola hung up and told Pavel the news.

“Pavel, I could possibly have my first contract.”

“This is good news, Da?”

“It is. I won’t fail.”

”Lola, let me let you in on a secret. You are too painstakingly precise. I don’t see how you could fail but remember this, with each contract the dynamic will change with every move you make. Just be aware of what’s around you.”

“I will. Thanks, Pavel!”

“You’re welcome, Lola.”

Lola bid goodbye to Pavel. He was going back home to take care of some business he had been putting off for a while now. He did tell her that he’d be back in six months’ time to check in on her to see how she was doing. Having everything she needs to meet with Shaun she leaves her apartment. She’s numerous. This is her big break, she’ll be assigned a contract and she will execute it with efficiency.

Xx

“Enter.” Lola hears when she knocks on Shaun’s office door.”

“Hello, Lola. How are you doing?”

“I'm doing good Shaun. So, you have a contract for me?”

“Itching to get to work, Lola?”

“You could say that. I’ve been waiting for this call for a while now.”

“Before we discuss this contract, I want to know how you would set it up. What steps you would take to get this job done with the least exposure.” Shaun slides the file in front of her so she can start on her evaluation of what needs to be done to eliminate the target. 

She reads for over thirty minutes and rereads it one last time before saying anything. She closes the file and looks at Shaun. Right before she was finished Shaun activated a recorder and was taping everything she was going to tell him.

“The target is careful. He’s dropping around 20k a night for a high-end suite at the Four Seasons in Vegas. I will take him out when he is mobile. Once I have made my recon sweep I’d find the best location to eliminate him. But for now, I’d use the .50 caliber.”

“Why, Lola? Why not take him out when he’s in his suite?”

“I have two reasons. First, he is staying in a room with bulletproof windows. Anything less than strategically placed C-4 would be useless. The second reason is that he has a predictable routine. I’d take him out here.” Lola points to a dwelling in the diagram within the file. “Then when he arrives to see his mistress he’d be eliminated.”

Shaun is shocked. He had missed the fact that the hotel suite had bulletproof windows. And her assessment overall was a better plan. It would make sense to take the target when he wasn’t thinking about being taken out if at all because he would worry more about getting his rocks off with his mistress and not be aware of his surroundings.

“Anything else Lola?”

“One last item. He never travels with a bodyguard when he visits his mistress. Making that location the only opportunity to take him out.”

“Lola, pack for a trip to Vegas!”

The smile that broke out on her face was priceless, she was going to get the chance to prove to him that she could do this. She got up said good bye and left, smiling all the way out of his office.


	25. Chapter 25

She was set. Her ticket was for a seat in coach and she appreciated the fact that Shaun had given her total control over this job. She was responsible for every aspect of it. Planning, transportation, escape plan, and the hit itself. He had agreed with her plans and gave her the green light. She had a very short flight to Las Vegas. She would use this time to study the background on her target. His day to day movements would need to be observed close up. She had five days to plan, prep and complete this job and she wanted to be meticulous in her planning. By the time the plane had touched down in Vegas, she had his past life memorized. She could not anticipate his moves but she had an idea of how he acted and what he liked and did not like. The passengers start to file out down the aisle and she sees an opening to follow in line off the plane. She grabs her carry on gets in the line and waits for the passengers to start moving again. By the time she gets off the plane she’s in line for a taxi to take her to the hotel. From there she’ll rent a car if she needs it. Her target has one weakness, he loved to gamble and there are many places she could take him where he does this, but the security cameras prove to be inescapable with their surveillance of the casino floors. After getting to the hotel she checks in and then she takes the elevator to the hotel room. The second she opens the door and she sees that her weapon has arrived. Knowing that she could not take it with her on the plane she had it shipped to the hotel. She opens the case and runs through the .50 caliber with care, cleaning and oiling the weapon. When she’s done it’s just about time to get something to eat. She returns to the front desk and asked for a recommendation for a decent place to eat. When she has one within walking distance she heads out. She is shown to a table that is secluded to other diners and thinks about her plan. When she got to her room she had looked with her binoculars to see if she could take the target with her weapon. She soon realized that the plan that she had given Shaun was going to be altered a little.

Xx

Lola was following her target from a distance. She took in all the information about the two and sometimes one man who kept him safe. The first bodyguard was about 5’10” tall. He had a short crew cut and wore all black, probably Armani. He looked to be around 340 pounds and looked like a Pacific islander, Hawaiian or Samoan decent maybe? The second and sometimes bodyguard was 6’1” or 6’2”. He weighed about 210 and looked to be European, Czech maybe? Dressed in a lesser type suit. She took notice of the shoulder rigs that they were both wearing. Whatever they were carrying it was a large caliber weapon. She noticed the bulge through their suit jackets. He was going to gamble at the Venetian, most likely in the high rollers lounge. She followed them in and watched as he entered a poker room where the minimum to buy in was ten grand. There was a café across from where he was and she sat down and ordered a cup of coffee. As she drank she watched and learned how many people came in and out of the room. Just about three hours later he had come out and she quickly left a twenty on the table for her coffee and started to follow again. He must have done well at the poker game because his attitude had changed greatly. He had dismissed the taller bodyguard halfway back to his hotel room. When she saw him entering his hotel, he then dismissed the second bodyguard but before he left he was having a short conversation with him before turning and walking in. When she passed the lobby of his hotel on the way to hers she noticed him waiting for the elevator for the ride to his room. She was in her room quickly watching him with her binoculars. He was predictable and by tomorrow she’d have most of his routine memorized. She pulled out a map of Vegas and calculated the best location to eliminate him. Her weapon would be of no use to her due to his movements and that he stayed in his room about 15 hours of the day. His bodyguards were with him for another five hours, which diminished her openings. She only had a four hour window and she had found out that he gave up seeing his mistress. She had only two chances to eliminate him. One was when he was eating, and the other is when he went to the hotel spa for his massage. She knew that she could take him out in either place with the weapons that she had on hand. But after thinking about the logistics of where he ate, while not impossible she gave up the idea of taking him there. Way too many witnesses even if where he ate was a little hidden it was just too great of a risk to not be caught. No, she’d take him where he was in a more exposed location. She knew that his bodyguards left him alone when he went to the spa. They were told by him to get something to eat while he was finding his relief with the masseuse and he would be alone for the next two hours. 

Lola had thought about the employee who might be giving him his massage and then an idea hit her. One that would require additional planning, but it will definitely be worth the planning if she could spare the life of the hotel employee. She was not merciless when it came to taking an innocent life if she could prevent it. She searched the internet and brought up the Four Seasons hotel website and viewed their amenities offered. The spa was opened for 16 hours every day starting at seven am. And closing at eleven. He had a standing appointment for every Tuesday and Friday right after he had lunch at 1:30 pm. Her best chance to take him would be on Friday. The security for the hotel was not too hard to circumvent. She only needed to lift a key card that gave her access to the hotel rooms and the spa as well as any other secure area in the hotel. Her best shot at getting one would be to take it from a security guard or assistant manager. She would only need to take a picture of the key card, send it to Shaun and he’d have a duplicate sent to her overnight complete with the access she needed. The masseuse was only one of three at the hotel. One was out sick for the rest of the week and the other was working from 3 pm to 11. She read up on the masseuse she would need to replace for a short time. She was a college graduate and had a degree in engineering. For the life of her, she did not understand why she was a masseuse. Her name was Cindy and she was the single mother of a little girl and now that she knew that she would do anything to spare her. She sent Shaun the picture of the key card and he told her that it would be in tomorrow’s FedEx delivery. She eased her mind with this information, one less item to worry and plan about. She would venture out later tomorrow to lay down possible escape routes if she needed them, but for now, it was closing in on midnight and she needed to sleep. She set her alarm for 5:30 and left a wakeup call at the front desk for five minutes earlier. She wanted to be up before he started his day.

Xx

There was a FedEx envelope waiting for when she came down from her room at eleven am. They had called earlier and told her that she had an overnight package at the front desk. She ripped open the envelope and removed its contents. In her hand was an exact copy of a Four Seasons employee key card with her picture embedded beneath the plastic coating. She checked the front and back and it looked authentic. She had one more test for it. Last time she checked her mark was still in his room. She tossed the envelope and palmed the keycard and walked out of the lobby heading for the Four Seasons. Walking into the hotel’s lobby, she wandered around until she found two secure doors that would not give away the spa employee for accessing them. She removed her card and gave a quick scan of the room. She waited for an older couple to pass and after they had she slid the card through the magnetic reader. The door clicked, unlocking it. She closed it and moved to the other door. It looked like a door to a counting room maybe she would not take the chance. So, she moved onto another one. Finding a door to what seemed like an employee changing room she quickly slid the card again and the door opened. Closing it just as fast she moved back to the lobby. Keeping her face hidden from the security cameras as she walked out. Back in her room, she pulled out her Beretta M9A3. Of all the handguns that she fired this was the one that was the most comfortable for her. When the silencer was added it felt more balanced. The sights were still able to remain on the weapon even though her main use for it was killing someone close to her. She ejected the clip and broke the weapon down. A half hour later she was finished oiling it and had it reassembled. Ready. Now she needed to go to the employee’s store at the Sands hotel and pick up a uniform to match the masseuse’s uniform. Once she had that she was ready. Her plan was altered but she felt better about it because she would not be that exposed for long. Her plan had two parts. If she timed it perfectly she would never have to explain to the masseuse why she was there. She needed to knock her out when she was in the act of passion with her mark. She checked the syringe she had next to her. It was a low-level paralytic. But it was fast acting. Shaun warned her that if she needed to use it on a potential witness/target be ready to break their fall, it works really fast.

Xx

It was Friday and she has been up since six am. She rechecked everything to make sure that she was ready to go. Her Beretta would fit nicely in the small of her back when she had her Sands jacket on. It covered her back past her waist. She dropped the silencer in her jacket pocket and the filled syringe in the other jacket pocket. She laid the jacket on her bed and picked up the binoculars to check in on her target. The bedroom curtain was drawn but when she looked to the left he was up and sitting at the table in the living room reading the newspaper. She observed for a while to try and gauge his mood but came up with nothing. She would wait and when the time came for him to leave his room for lunch she would follow. She would watch as he ate and left, then again when he arrived at the hotel’s masseuse. The first part of his visit would be legit, but when she was done and he’d be under her getting his rocks off, this is when she would incapacitate the masseuse. During the time he realized that she was there for him she’d already have her Beretta nuzzled up against his temple pulling the trigger before he could react.

When the time drew closer to 11:30 she looked across watched him as he got ready for his lunch appointment. The Samoan was his only protection there, but the other guard could be lurking out of her field of vision. She waited. When he got up and headed for the door she was ready and in motion dressed like a Sands employee. By the time she got to his lobby he was just walking into the restaurant. He waved the only guard to follow and she found a couple of small boutiques stores to “shop” at while he was eating. It would look normal for her to be doing this, but if she was stopped and questioned she could tell whoever that she was on her lunch break. By the time she entered the third store she noticed him and his bodyguard leaving the eatery. They walked slowly towards the spa and she quickly left the boutique following at a distance. He whispered in the bodyguard’s ear and he nodded his acknowledgment of the instructions. When they parted and he entered the secure spa door, she walked into the last store to look around. She’d give him just enough time to get his relaxing massage and then she’d make her move inside the spa and into the private room where he was.

Xx

She made the last check of her drug and weapon and started to walk to the spa. Retrieving the access card from the plastic holder at her neck she swiped the security reader and the door opened. On the way in she kept close to the far wall. As she planned there was no one else at the spa to notice her entering. She moved quicker now reaching the hallway that leads to the individual rooms. He was a creature of habit and had always selected the middle room on the right. She moved closer to the door and heard the masseuse moaning in pleasure. Now was the time. She swiped the card again and they were both oblivious to her entering the room. She got low to the floor and moved slowly to the table. The masseuse was bobbing up and down on his cock like she was on fire. Taking out the syringe she primed the needle and waited. When she sat upright on her partner's pelvis she threw a hood over her head and injected her in the upper arm with the paralytic. Shaun was right but there was no need to catch her falling body due to it falling backward onto her lover’s legs, conveniently keeping him immobile from the waist down. Taking out her silenced Beretta and pointing it at her targets head, he started to beg and whine. She could not care less what he was offering her because she was being paid more than he knew. Without hesitating, she pulled the trigger twice and watched as his body spasm and jump around without the control of his brain. She broke down her weapon and put it back in the waistband of her pants. Pocketing the used syringe and the silencer, she took one last look at her first completed job and smiled. The paralytic would wear off in about an hour but the masseuse would have no clue as to who Lola was. She left the way she entered avoiding all security cameras as she did. When she got back to her room she packed everything up and left the room. She had one stop to make to ship her weapon back to LA. She hailed a cab and loaded the trunk herself not bothering with the cabbie. 

“Bring me to the nearest FedEx shipping store.” Lola told the driver.

Fifteen minutes later and her package already shipped, she told the cabbie to take her to LAX. Arriving at LAX she had never once noticed the two men following her throughout the whole hit. They were not sure if that was a good thing or bad. But Shaun would be told….


	26. Chapter 26

Rick had found one clue that he was sure that would lead him to Kate. After researching this thoroughly, he wanted to bring what he found to Ryan and Espo. But as he gave it more thought he wanted to make sure that they were going to believe that what he was telling them was a solid lead. He decided to call Ryan and have him meet with him first without Esposito. Walking into his bar he took up space in the booth reserved for the twelfth and waited. He went over everything in his head one last time. Feeling more confident about this he knew that Ryan would have to at least have the decency to listen to what he found. there was no way he could not.

"Castle, what's up?" Ryan said as he walked to the booth and sat down.

"Listen, what I am going to say might be a little hard to swallow but please just listen before you make a snap judgment. Okay?"

"I'll try. But I can't promise you anything."

"Ever since Kate was drugged and then disappeared at LAX, I've been recording the feed from every terminal that has commercial flights leaving the airport. I also have the feed from the private side too. For the last month, I have found nothing that resembles her anywhere within the airport. But five days ago, I noticed a person that is the spitting image of her flying out to Las Vegas. Then, four days later that same person had returned only three gates away."

"Castle, the last time we did this Espo just about killed you. It seems that you always have some theory that other than being far fetched, is usually wrong. I'd like to believe you but you know how hard it will be to convince him."

"Come on Kevin!! Grow a set of balls, will you! Don't let him lead you around by the nose. You have a brain and I know that you can think for yourself."

Ryan sat there just watching him. Sure he wanted to believe him but whatever he found over the last three months usually could be explained away as mistaken identity, or by the time he ran down whatever lead he was chasing it would end without a result. Then he'd be silent until the next big find came along. But this time he seemed surer about this lead. So, he asked about what he found.

"Okay Rick, humor me. What did you find now?"

"You won't regret this Kevin, I swear!"

"I already do." 

Rick pulled out his I-pad and powered it up. Once it had he started to search the files he had in the archive. Clicking on it he opened the video file and he placed it in Ryan’s hands.

"Just press play and watch." He said watching him intently.

Ryan started the video and what he sees is a normal terminal at LAX. People walking in a rush to get to their gates so they make it on time. There is nothing that stands out to him.

"Rick, what am I looking for? I mean this is what happens every day at any airport." Ryan tells him.

"Kevin just watch. The camera will zoom in on the person in question and bring her face into perfect focus."

Kevin watches the feed and waits. It takes about another three minutes but the view tightens in on a woman's body and face, then just her face. At first, he's a little skeptical but he rewinds the recording and when it starts playing again he studies it analyzing every feature of the woman in question. The last time he rewinds the tape he pauses it just as she looked up to the jetway after scanning her ticket and it captured her face with perfect clarity. 

"Rick, there is only one problem with what I see here."

"What? What do you see that I don't?"

"Where should I start? First, this woman is a blonde. Second, her facial features, while they are a little close to Beckett's they differ a lot. Look at her cheekbones and her nose the cheekbones are too high and her nose looks wider. Then there's the fact that this woman is rail thin. To me, if it is Beckett, she has lost a lot of weight. I don't think that this is her." Kevin said.

"Ryan, you totally missed the most important clue!! You had to see it."

"Rick, I think that you've been chasing this thing for so long you see what you want to see. Nothing you can show me will convince me that this is Beckett."

Rick yanks the I-pad out of his hands and rewinds the video back to the point where Ryan missed the most important clue. He cued it up right before the woman does what he knows is Kate and hands it back to him telling him to hit play and watch very closely. 

Ryan watches the recording and he sees the same thing, nothing is different. "Rick, I'm sorry what is it that I'm supposed to be seeing here?"

"Kevin are you blind?? Rewind it once more and I'll show you what you're missing."

He rewinds the tape back to where Rick had it when he started watching and placed it on the table and hit play. Rick describes the action as it happens and then he rewinds it and slows it down.

"SEE??? Right there Kevin!"

"What are you talking about? All I see is this woman walking towards the ticket counter to check in for her flight."

Rick rewinds it once more and hits play. He describes the scene like a passage from one of his books.

"See where the woman turns to walk down the aisle to the counter? Kevin nods.

"Now watch as she checks the time on her watch." Again, Kevin nods.

"Now this is why I think that this woman is Beckett. Keep watching right as she steps up to the ticket agent."

He resumes the recording and then, unconsciously the woman pulls out a necklace from under her blouse and finds the ring that's hanging from the end of the chain. She rubs it between her fingers as she moves in line towards the jetway. Just as she gets closer to the check-in area she puts the necklace back under her blouse and hands her ticket to the associate. 

"So? What do you think now?" Rick asked him willing him to see what he had.

"Rick, this is thin, really thin. Why do you think this is her, just humor me alright?"

"The watch is her fathers, and the ring on the chain is her mother's engagement ring. She always caresses it when she's nervous."

"I'm not that sure Rick. But I'll tell you what, I will take this back to the tech lab and have them superimpose Beckett's facial features over the face in the video. Then we will come back to this later. So, while I'm not 100 % positive that this is Kate, I'll give you the benefit of the doubt….this time. Call me tomorrow around lunchtime and I should have the results by then."

Rick's face turns a slight bit happier that Kevin is at least trying to see if it's her. Maybe he'll believe what he found this time.

Ryan returns to the precinct and knocks on Sgt. Ellis' door and she gestured him to come in.

"Hey, Tori. Could you do me a favor?"

"Sure Kevin, what do you need?"

Do you have a way to transpose Detective Beckett's face onto a still picture?"

"I do, but it might take me a while. I'm in the middle of looking for guys from the bank robbery. I have about 11 hours of footage to go through. I might be able to take a look around dinnertime. Is there a rush on this?"

"Actually, yes. But if you could do this before noon, I'd really owe you."

"Detective, if I ever collected on all the favor you owe me, I'd be a very wealthy woman! But if all goes right I should have this back to you before lunch tomorrow."

Ryan removes the tablet from his inside jacket pocket and hands it over to her. The picture is still in screen grab mode and Tori says something he'd never thought he'd hear.

"Detective Ryan, why do you have a picture of Detective Beckett on that tablet? And why is she a blonde?"

"Tori, what are you talking about??" He still had trouble believing all this.

"Kevin, you do know that she is still a missing person right? There's a BOLO out on her."

"Why do you think that this woman is Detective Beckett Tori? And I am the person who issued the BOLO." He said.

"Seriously? Can't you see it? I mean she's lost a little weight but that's definitely her."

“Kevin I can’t believe that you’ve had this information and it’s just being seen now.”

“Tori, I just got my hands on this literary a half an hour ago. Castle had it.”

“Kevin I can’t promise much, but I will try to get this back to you tomorrow before lunch.”

Xx

He was at a loss. Ever since his daughter was returned to him she had not left the loft. He didn’t know if she was still hesitant to leave because of her abduction or if there was another reason. Whatever it was bothering her he needed to do something to get her out and among the living again.

“Alexis, what’s say we take a trip to the library?”

“No thanks dad. I am going to study up in my room.” 

Before he could make an effort to stop her, she was up the stairs and the door shut and locked it.

He walked back to his office and went over the latest information from the last known location of her sighting at LAX. He had watched the video about a thousand times. His mind drifted and now he was questioning why he had told Ryan about this in the first place. He knew that Ryan would tell Espo, and he, in turn, would tell Jim. He really did not want to deal with a drunk Jim questioning his evidence at every turn. And he knew he would. He would pick apart his theory and would end up getting pissed off and then storm out. He had lost two of the most important women in his life and the only way he could cope was to get drunk and Jim Beckett was a mean drunk when he drank. He gave everyone shit when he got this way. There were many times a bartender called him and said he needed to give him a ride home. The first time he gave in and picked him up, got him into his apartment and tidied up a little because the apartment was looking like a tornado had ripped through it.

The second time Rick had asked if he was able to get home under his own power and the bartender told him that he had blacked out on his stool. This was the last time he helped Jim Beckett. He was a caring man with a daughter he loved very much, but if Jim couldn’t pull his head out of his ass, and get drunk almost every night, his generosity had finally reached its end. The last time a bartender called he told him to throw him in a cab and he gave him Jim’s address. 

Xx

“Detective Ryan, can I see you please?”

Kevin gets up and walks over to the tech room where he finds Tori sitting behind a monitor adjusting color and brightness

“Tori, what’s up?” He asks as he sits next her. On the screen, he sees the screen shot of Beckett and then he sees an outline of her features next to it.

“Kevin, watch as I move the outline over the screen shot, then tell me that this is not Detective Beckett.”

She does and then he sees the two images fit together perfectly. 

“Tori, I still can’t see it. This woman while close in looks still can’t be her. She’s been missing for three months. Why now would she just pop up from out of nowhere? She really does not carry herself as Beckett did. Even the voice is off. There’s just something about this woman and it’s not Kate.”

“Kevin, look at the beauty mark on her jaw. It is a perfect match between the outline and the screen shot. That and the forehead. From her eyebrows to the bottom of this woman’s hairline are the same. Then there are her ears. They match as well. Don’t tell me that this is not Kate!”

“Tori I need to make a call. Can I have the tablet back?”

“Kevin what are you going to do about this? We need to find her now that we have a lead.”

“Tori, you never saw anything I gave you if anyone asks you about this. I have the perfect person to chase this lead down. Ryan’s phone connects and he rushes out of the room.

“Castle, meet me at the Haunt at 8 pm tonight. I have news.”

“What is it, Ryan?”

“Not over the phone. Meet me tonight.” Then the line goes dead. Rick just stares at his phone and is filled with elation. He knows that he believes in the evidence he gave him.

He sits in the Haunt and waits checking his watch every minute and when he hears his name called he looks up to see Ryan holding his tablet.

“Castle, I’m not 100 % sold on your theory. You’re going to have to make me a believer.” The second he finishes the statement Esposito slides to his left out from behind him. And if that wasn’t bad enough Jim appeared to his right. “Yeah and us too.” Jim and Espo say. 

They file into the booth and Espo sits directly across from Castle. He takes in Jim's condition and notices he's a little too far gone already.

“Ryan, what the hell??”

“Castle, you had to know that they would come.”

“Bullshit, Ryan. You know this only ends one way, and that’s with him getting plastered” as Rick points to Jim “and this one here loses his restraint. Just so you know I can and will put him in the ground, and don’t think I can’t.”

“Just try it, Castle. You won’t leave here in one piece, that I can guarantee.”

“Esposito, you’re not the only ex-military member in this bar. So, I’d watch your mouth if I were you! Unless you want to be eating out your next meal from a straw they keep it up!”

“Castle, keep your mouth shut before I shut it for you!”

“Espo I have four words for you so listen very, very closely. Non Multa Sed Multum!” Rick just sat back and waited for it to register with Esposito.

“When, where, how???” Is all Esposito said.

“22nd MEU, 1st Battalion, 6th Marines.

“Shit, Castle.”

“Yeah tell me about it.”

“Well, you’re still going to need to show me why you believe your theory. So, prove it!”


	27. Chapter 27

Lola sat across from her boss taking everything he was throwing at her. She never realized that by the time she came back from Las Vegas he had people following her from start to finish during her job. He had pointed out every mistake that she had made from the time she left the airport in LA until the time she returned. The thing that got him the most upset was that she never bothered to stay aware of her surroundings. Sure, she kept an eye on her mark and the area that he was in, but she lost all kinds of tactical awareness for the situation that she found herself in. There were five separate times when the two men and one woman he had following her could have taken her without a problem and she would have never known they were there. Since Pavel had already left for home he decided that she needed to be retrained in the art of being aware of everything surrounding her. He can only think of one man who could give her this but he came with a stipulation, his partner who just so happened to be his wife was a team that he trusted with his own life. Together they were unstoppable in training and teaching his assassins how to blend in but still keep the knowledge of what they were doing and where they were noticing everything around them. This is what she needed now.   
“Lola I'm disappointed in you, to say the least. I sent you out on this job so you could show me that you could perform this job with all the training I have given you. And the fact that you didn’t screw the pooch on this job, god only knows how you didn't but that's between you and him. So now I'm going to have you trained in being aware of what's going on around you. I know that your background as a Russian operative has given you access to training that we in the states never could imagine. I’ve called into associates who are well trained in the art of camouflage so to speak urban camouflage would be a better description. They’ll help you blend in and at the same time make sure that you’ll be aware of everything that’s going on around you. This is important no matter what mission you’re on. I will, however, give you credit for your first kill. When you had originally taken the initiative to take him out, your first option was using the rifle. Since there were obstacles that you could not have foreseen, you had to be adapted quickly in order for you to complete the job. You were quick to think on your feet. And the manner in which you hid your identity from the masseuse and were still able to take out your mark was just something short of amazing. Your bank account has been fully funded with the money from this job as of this morning. The agreed upon amount that was promised in your contract is now available to you. I plan on starting you on an urban training program that will amount to about two weeks to complete. During that time you will be pulled out of the rotation and only when the team I have finished training you gives me the okay to put back in the rotation then and only then will you be reassigned back into the group. Are we clear Lola?”

“Shaun, are you sure that this is necessary?” 

“Lola, believe me when I tell you that this will help you in the long run. Going out in the field has consequences. Once you have a better understanding of what you will be facing out there the better assassin you’ll be. Planning and carrying out the hit is so much more involved than you know. Be ready to start at 0600 tomorrow morning.”

“I’ll be ready.”

“Lola, you better be, I had you scheduled for a hit that next week that probably would have put good use to your skills with your rifle. I just can’t see….

Shaun is interrupted by a knock on his office door. When he tells whoever it is to enter he’s surprised to see the large figure that blocks the light from the hallway standing there. He gives his new visitor a grave look and wonders why he’s not in New York doing what he asked him to do. 

“Enter! NOW!” Shaun is not very happy that his #2 contract killer and needs to know why he is here standing in his doorway.

Donald Mannis walks into the office and over to his boss. He leans in to whisper in his ear. Once he starts relaying the new information he has, he now understands why he’s here in person. The conversation is short with no reply from Ganz and without warning, he turns and leaves. They’ll continue this conversation in private later.

For her part, she can barely make out the words New York and problem to deal with. At first, she watches for Shaun’s reaction to what he’s hearing but his face stays neutral. She can’t tell what these words mean to him. So she watches the conversation but all too soon, it’s over and the person is leaving. She sits back in the chair a little uneasy but still relaxed so he won’t think she tried to listen in. 

“Lola, 0600 tomorrow. Be ready.” 

Shaun gets up from his desk and leaves her sitting in the chair. He’s in the planning room in less than three seconds. When he gets inside, he grabs Mannis by the shoulders and shakes him like a rag doll. He demands all the information that he has on what he’s been assigned to do in New York and he stresses not to leave out one single important detail. 

Mannis is through with his detail and he starts from what he has seen and heard going back two and a half weeks. He tells Ganz that the Hispanic detective has requested security footage from LAX on the day that Lola/Kate had flown out to Vegas to carry out the contract there. He goes further from that point forward and tells him that the writer also had a contact in the LAPD that has worked with him in the past and is supplying him with information regarding the detective that was taken. This contact was advised to tell him if someone matching a Lola Black/Kate Beckett description had been seen anywhere in the LA area. So far all they have is a possible match for Lola Black. The picture is not all that clear, but it was clear enough for the writer to believe what he was seeing and hire a private investigator who had an edge. He was an ex-marine who had hand to hand and weapons training. He had a permit for a concealed weapon which gave him the right to be armed at all times. Then the writer and the Hispanic detective had made some very determined and inquisitive calls once more to Mr. and Mrs. McCarton. They were going to be the first ones dealt with. 

“Mannis, I want you to head back to New York. Are the detective and the writer still in New York now? Ganz asked.

“They are. And for a being a former Ranger the detective has become slack in his day to day. He’s predictable, and he’s become soft. He’s a prime candidate.”

“The writer, I see that he’s the one who has pressed the issue in finding her?”

“For the most part, he is. He’s still hooked on her. He has become very paranoid about his surroundings though. And since his daughter was taken and released, either he won’t let her out of his sight or she’s petrified to leave the house and that in itself presents a problem. Which brings me to the new and improved home security system he had installed about three weeks ago. It’s top of the line and this system covers everything. Entryway ways, windows, and skylights are all covered with sensors. Across each surface of entry, there is an invisible grid that activates the silent alarm. The active part of this alarm has motion sensors and temperature monitors in the walls, floor, and ceiling. Virtually the whole house is worse than Fort Knox to get into.”

“Mannis, I need you on a flight back to JFK. Are you sure that the writer and the detective are still in the city? They haven’t left?”

“No. And once a week they meet at his bar and go over what they’ve put together about Beckett. So far, they have only arrived at a couple of theories none of which hold any merit.”

“Wait a sec, he owns the bar where they meet? Since when? I have no information about him owning this bar.”

“That’s because he kept his name out of it. He owns a shell corporation and it was purchased with its name. He used his attorney’s intellect and he has kept that fact separate from his other real estate holdings. You wouldn’t find it unless you had looked into the law firm.”

“Get back to New York. Double your efforts in finding out what they know. I want either calls or emails with updates every 24 hours.”

“I’ll catch the red eye out of Lax tonight. Expect a call when I’m in position.”

“Good. Now go!”

Mannis turns to leave and as he does he just realized that his job just became a little more complicated.

Ganz needs to cover his ass better. He knew about the McCartons, but he thought his initial warning had been enough to persuade them to keep quiet about what they know. It’s a shame that they did not heed his warnings. Now he will need to eliminate them. He’ll send Gary. He has a touch for making his kills look anything like a contract killing. He needs time to think. He has potential problem three thousand miles to the East and it needs to be dealt with, once and for all. Later he’ll wait for Mannis’s update before doing anything on impulse. But, he already has a plan starting to form in the back of his mind already. One that involves his newly acquired talent. He can only hope that she is ready by the time he needs her. No, she will be the one and it becomes so clear for him because she will, in essence, be taking out the man who meant something to her a lifetime ago… Karma can be a bitch sometimes.

A/N: First I'd like to thank all the readers who had shown concern for my family members in Florida. To know that you care enough to make sure that my family is safe and out of harm's way meant more than you could ever imagine. Thank you so much for your concern and well wishes. My daughter ended up with minor damage to her home caused by this storm. Other than three windows that were broken, and the patio sliding door that was taken out by a tree limb, she was without power for 5 days and the internet for 7. She survived and the grandkids are now back at school! :)


	28. Chapter 28

The six am hour came way too fast for her. She glanced at the clock and let out a sigh when it told her that it was almost time to get up and get ready. Rethinking her actions from her first successful kill, she wondered where she could improve her awareness in the field. If Shaun thought that she’d need additional training, she would gladly accept what they could teach her.

She finally drags herself out of the bed and gets her day started. She has just enough time to get to the cafeteria to get a quick bite to eat. Probably a yogurt or something similar. Washing quickly, she leaves her room. As she walks past Shaun’s office her mind drifts back to what she heard when she stopped by his door. She was only there for a quick two or three seconds, but what she heard was that he thought there was a threat in New York that needed to be taken care of. She’d never been to New York and hopes that the training that she will be going through in the following weeks will be done in time and she can be in the right position to complete this job for him. 

But she first has to clear the first hurdle, training. She enters the classroom and waits for the couple to arrive. She notes the time and at precisely six am the door opens revealing a pair of well-defined people. She is a blonde with her hair pulled up into a tight but serious bun. She’s about 5’ 8” and is very lean. He is not that far in contrast from her. He is just a couple of inches taller, dirty brown hair, and lean as well. Whoever they are they train hard and definatally fight just as hard if not harder. Standing with her arms at her sides, she’s not in time to ward off the blonde woman’s advance. She strikes Lola with a clenched fist to her neck and Lola fights off the initial pain. She is however quick to counter the attack by dropping down on her haunches and sweep her leg out to the left and close line her legs out from under her. This is her initial reaction hoping that the blonde is caught off guard. But it turns out to be the wrong option. The blond anticipated the move and jumps clear of Lola’s sweeping extremity with ease. Lola ends up flat on her back due to the free sweep of her leg. She opens her eyes and looks up at the hand that is offering to her help to get up off the floor. Deciding to be respectful, a fleeting thought runs through her mind as she takes the woman’s hand. She could easily pull her down as she tried to get off the floor, but decides against it. She’s here to learn and by what she was just shown less than ten seconds ago, she could use their help.

“Lola, my name is Rob Evans and this is my wife Christine.” He said by way of introduction. 

“Good morning Rob, Christine.” Lola responded.

“Now, your response to my wife’s attack is common, but your moves show promise. We will improve on this and get you aware of what you will without a doubt face in the field. Try to think of your movements as a very well-choreographed dance Lola. Think of your body as a fluid extension of your mind.”

“Like a martial arts student would?” She wondered.

“Well, a little like that only those students use tactics that deal with the anticipation of the strike. Almost as if they can predict what their opponent will do before they do it.”

“Okay. So, when do we start training?” Lola asked.

Christine answered “We already have the second we walked in.”

Lola wondered what she was involved in. These guys were good. Good enough to catch her unaware. For the first week of training she had, they were classroom and gym lessons. After the first day, her body ached in places she never knew existed. She was sore all over. On the second day, her muscles were burning from the constant use in situations she’d never thought of before. 

“Lola, this third day will be classroom work. We will give you certain examples to watch and then before we show you the outcome you will tell us what you would have done to come away with a solution. These small clips that you are about are real-life scenes and had an outcome that cost a person their life. So, pay attention.”

Christine starts the film and Lola watches everything. She sees the beat cop standing on the street corner talking to a mother that’s holding her baby. As they talk, a pair of men that have ski masks over their heads are walking towards them. Then they split in half with one going behind the cop and the other behind the mother. The cop just keeps talking to the woman. Then the film stops and the lights come on.

“Lola, what’s wrong with this scene?” Rob asked her.

“To start off the pair of men become two threats instead of one when they split up.”

“Good! Anything else?”

“I noticed that the mother looked up to her right for a split second while she was talking to the cop.”

“Uhhh, Lola what do you mean?” Christine asks not used to this type of response and a little surprised.

“When the pair split up she took a quick look at her right side. It was almost unnoticeable because the cop never thought twice about her movement. But she looked to where the men were walking over to where they were.”

“Okay. Let’s continue.” The lights dim and the DVD starts again.

As the men move towards the cop they draw out guns and drop them to their sides. The first man walks up to the woman and grabs her in a choke hold, while the other man makes his move on the cop. The cop who automatically goes to draw his gun to protect the woman from the threat. As he gets to his holster he finds nothing but empty space. The DVD stops, but the lights stay off.

“Lola, what’s wrong now?”

“The first man with the gun now has the woman in a hostage situation. The second man had taken the cops gun without him knowing it.”

“Good. Let’s finish this up.” Rob says.

The DVD resumes and the cop turns in response of his missing weapon, but is faced with his own gun when he stops and faces the second man. What she sees next is something anyone could have predicted. The second man holding the cops gun is now pressing it against the cops temple. Call the cop is watching the gun out of the corner of his eye, the man holding him hostage and takes out his handcuffs. He instructs the Cub to wrap his hands around the light pole and not to move a muscle. When that’s finished the man with the cops gun handcuffs the cop hit a light pole. The two men simply let the woman go and quickly walk away up the street.

“Lola, what was the main lesson of this situation?” Rob asked her.  
“Well first the cop wasn’t aware of his surroundings and he lost all kinds of proximity to the men who were coming up to him. He waited too long to react. What looks like two harmless men walking up to a cop for information, turned out to be a bad assumption for the patrol officer.”

“So, you should be aware of your surroundings at all times correct?” Christine inquires.

“Let me guess, this is what I seem to do. Not that this is really an excuse and I will try and do better I know I will do better but my mind is so wrapped up in the job at hand that I forget everything else other than the job.” Lola tells them.

“Lola, this is just an exercise to make you see what could happen in a blink of an eye. It’s not necessarily going to happen to you but it could. This is why you have to always be aware of your surroundings.” Rob adds.

Seeing that he’s right she’s now aware how this could ruin a whole mission in no time flat.

“Planning a mission to eliminate somebody is not always about getting there, doing the job and getting back. You also need to know everything about the place you’re going to, the people involved, or the situation you could find yourself in very quickly could end up getting you yourself killed. In other words, you have to always think on your feet.”

Now that the classroom work is done how about if we get a little more physical?” Christine asked her. 

Rob had taught her some new hand to hand moves that would come in handy. When the day was done, Lola ached all over. There was not one area on her body that was not covered with a bruise or the start of one. But it helped. She learned a lot in the time they were there.

Xx

“Ganz, do you have a minute?” Rob asked him as he left his office.

“It needs to be quick. I have a meeting in LA in two hours.”

“It will be.” Rob tells him.

The three of them reenter his office and get situated. Rob wastes no time with small talk.

“Russ, I’m not too sure why we are here. We’ve completed the course, but there’s not a real good reason of why we were called in to do give her this class.” Rob starts.

“What do you mean? Why was there no need?”

“Russell, she’s smart! Super smart would be a better description.” Christine adds.

“Okay, it seems that I’m in the dark here. What are the two of you talking about? She was unaware of what was going on around her. she never knew that I had three people on her the second she left for the airport.”

“Are you sure about that Russ? As I see it, she has more awareness than you and I combined.”

Ganz just sits back in his chair and thinks. He received the report from his operatives the minute she returned back. They were never wrong.

“Alright, tell me why you think this.”

“It’s simple. On the day we had the DVD class the situation with the city cop we stopped the scene at the time we usually do and asked her what she was seeing.” Christine says.

“Russ, when she told us about the woman in the scene, she picked up on something that neither myself or Christine had ever noticed. Reading situations in the class is one thing but the field is another totally. She noticed that the woman had somehow seen the threat before it became a threat and adjusted accordingly all in order to protect the kid with her.”

“So what, it was the classroom Rob! Like you said the field is totally different and if she can’t see a potential problem before it’s too late then what’s the sense??”

“Russ, she knows more than she shows. I have an idea. Do me a favor, are the men still around who were following her here?” Christine asked.

“There were three but one is on a job. He’ll be back in two days.”

“Okay, get them in here.” Rob stresses. 

Ganz picks up the phone and calls the two people in who were with her that day. When they arrive, they report to Ganz directly.

“Okay, Rob here they are.”

Rob and Christine walk up to the two and then Rob takes out a scanner that detects any type of device that could transmit a signal. Christine does the same scan on the woman. Less than a minute Christine is getting a hit from the back and top of the woman’s head. Ten seconds later Rob is getting a similar tone on his scanner by the mans shoes. 

Rob tells the man to take off his shoe. He does and that’s when Rob sees it. The heel of his shoe was re-glued back onto the sole. He smacks the heel against the edge of Ganz’s desk and it falls to the ground. In the cavity, he sees as he turns over the shoe lies a micro transmitter.

“She knew Russ! She knew where your people were at all times.” Rob shows him the bug.

“Hey honey, look at this.” Christine asked her husband.

Rob walked over to her scanner and the thing is lighting up in the red as she hovers the scanner over the woman’s head.

“She knew where you were at too. Your hair was sprayed with an electronic countermeasure that’s not easy to remove. It does come off after repeated washings, but she knew where you were at all times. The both of you. And I’m sure that the third person has a similar bug on them as well.” Rob finishes.

“I’ll be a son of a bitch!!” Ganz said out loud.

“Yeah, I bet you are. So, not only did she know that you had people following her she was able to place tracking devices on them without them even knowing it. That Russ takes a skill that even I don’t have.” Rob said.

“Well done Mr. and Mrs. Smith. I’ll have payment sent to your account by tomorrow. Until next time….

Ganz had some heavy thinking to do. If she knew about his people what else did she know about? His thoughts turn dark as he thinks. Maybe he had misread her altogether. He has something planned for her and he thinks that it will be the beginning of her end. If she can complete this….

The weekly scheduled update for 10/1/17 will be postponed. Updates will restart again on 10/8/17. I will be heading down to Pensacola Florida to see my son graduate from flight combat training school for the MH-60R Seaking. This will be the same for my other open stories. Sorry for the inconvenience!


	29. Chapter 29

If Ganz had given any thought to what he was going to do next, he might have rethought his decision. But he didn’t. He was able to read someone’s character and a person’s motives be it good or bad. But the former Detective Kate Beckett was hard to read. He thought he had a good line on her but as time went on he had no idea what she was capable of doing. He has a problem with the way she was able to deploy not two but three tracking devices on his very alert assassins. He might need to retrain these three. And this fact is the one that troubles him the most. He knows Gary’s drug therapy to erase her mind was successful. But every once in a while, he sees a glint in her eye that she could remember certain things about certain people. Sure, she’s killed for him but these were just easy marks a test of what she could do in the real world. He has many ideas find out if she knows anything but with her power to hide what she does know it won’t be easy getting the information from her. He hasn’t fucked somebody hard in a long time. And he thinks this is just what she needs. Of course, there will be torture involved to get her talk to see what she knows, but after that it’s no holds barred hard core fucking.

He picks up his phone and calls Gary.

“Did you need something Russell?” Gary asked. 

“I do. Locate Lola, strip her down to nothing, then march her ass down to the interrogation room. When you get there bind her to the table. When you’re done with that call me.”

“Russ, what’s going on? I don’t like the way this conversation is going. Introducing someone new the pound away at her twat will not be a good thing. I know you all too well, and you will be going at her hardcore. She knows you as her boss, not her lover. What I could do is sedate her and then you can have your way with her without her even knowing.”

“Gary, old friend if I wanted your opinion I’d ask you for it. But for what I have in mind, she’s going to need to be conscious. So just do what I asked and let me take it from there.”

“Russ, this could very well backfire on you. And then you had to do one of two things. Once you’re done with her and you get your jollies off you’d have to kill her or you could never let her go out on another job again. Either way, you play it you’re going to be out a substantial amount of money.”

“I'm well aware of the consequences of my actions. Please do not question my authority. Just remember you too are expendable. Just do what I asked you to do and tell me when it’s finished. I want her stripped down to nothing. And put on display.”

“Fine!”

Ganz hangs up the phone and doesn’t need to rethink his decision. He needs to get to the bottom of what she knows or what she doesn’t know. And if that includes fucking her to until she senseless then that’s what he’ll do.

Gary quietly approaches her room. He surveys the situation at hand and he sees that she’s sleeping. This will give him the element of surprise. He’ll take her fast before she realizes what hit her. As he slips into her room he sees that she’s breathing normally and sleeping soundly. As he gets closer and he goes to secure her wrists her eyes popped open. At first, she’s surprised but then she realizes that he is a threat. Trying to retreat backwards off bed he lunges towards her. He’s successful but the move makes him and her fall off the other side of the bed together. To his relief there will be no more fight from her because she hit her head and knocked herself out. He does exactly what Gary had asked strips her down to nothing. Only now he has to carry her over his shoulder to get her to the interrogation room. When he arrives to the interrogation room he notices that the lights are on the table is set up in the bindings are already in place. To him this makes his job easier. He secures her to the table in a spread-eagle fashion. Rechecking the leather bindings one last time he exits the room and called Ganz from the phone hanging on the wall outside the room.

“Russ it's done. But there was an issue getting her there. We struggled she fell and knocked herself out.”

“All the better. I will keep an eye on her with the surveillance camera. This will do her some good to let her think about her situation.” Ganz ends the phone call and needs to approach this with a goal in mind. His plan first and foremost will be getting the information she might have from her and act on it. The second act he plans on performing will be for his own personal satisfaction.

Xx

When she wakes, she has an instant flashback of being in this room before. She’s cold and naked. She wonders why she’s here at all. As far as she knew she was successful in doing what he told her to do but now that might have changed and she doesn’t know why.

Xx

Ganz waits and keeps a close eye on the TV monitor in front of him. He intends to make it uncomfortable for her but not as bad as the hot/cold treatment he gave her when she first got here. He decreased the temperature down to a chilly forty-five degrees. You could tell how cold she was by how erect her nipples became. She’s been in the room now for about two and a half hours and it was time.

Xx

She’s now really cold and a thought hits her that she knows will lead to something that she does not want to ever experience again. The temperature feels like it has come down by about twenty degrees in the last hour. The goosebumps that have appeared on the arms and legs show how cold she really is. The door opens and in walks Shaun. She can see no emotion on his face as he comes towards her. And this scares her the most.

“Lola it seems that we have a little problem here. One that I’m sure you can explain to me. Now I’m going to ask you some questions, very straightforward questions and I expect answers.”

Lola only nods hoping he can’t see the fear in her eyes.

“Question number one. How is it you were able to plant tracking devices on three of my best assassins without them knowing it?”

“I had a strange feeling that I was being followed from the time I landed in Vegas. One day while I was on my walk to scope out the mark I caught sight of a short blonde woman who just seemed too obviously interested in what I was doing. So, wanting to find out more while she was asleep I sprayed down her hair with an electronic countermeasure that could only be observed by me. The other two gentlemen we’re just as obvious and were tracked as well.”

“I'm not sure if I should commend you or condemn you. Apparently, I was wrong about you. You seem to know things that my assassins know nothing about. And this is what I have a problem with. I will deal with that later.”

“Question two. I’m going to mention some names and I want you to tell me if you recognize any of them.”  
‘I'll try, but I can’t guarantee that I’ll know who you’re talking about.”

“The first name is Lanie Parish.” Ganz keeps a close eye on her facial expressions and he sees nothing that would indicate she knows the name. After her negative nod, he tries again.

“Kevin Ryan.”

She nods no again and again he sees no indication that she recognizes her former teammate's name.

“Javier Esposito.”

He can see that she’s quick to hide it. She knows the name but he’s not totally sure she can connect with past experiences. When he took her from the airport all those months ago these two were tight. So, he just lets this response go for now. It’s the next name that he’s really hoping to get a positive response from.

“Alexis Castle.”

As before with the first name is he mentioned he gets a nod to the negative and he can see a slight response to the name he just mentioned. It’s faint but it’s there. So he decides to play his ace in the hole. 

“Richard Castle.”

Her response is immediate. He can see that she recognizes the name but he can’t tell how well she knows him. So, he’ll decide to push it further.

“The last name I just mentioned Lola, does it bring back any memories for you?”

“I'm not totally sure but the name sounds vaguely familiar. The only thing that comes up in my head is some kind of book. Could he have been an analyst with the company I worked for before?”

He can tell immediately that she’s lying to him. She’s using her knowledge of her new identity to cover what she knows about him. Having reached the end of his patience he backhands across the face. 

Seeing that she’s not responding to his strike he pulls out a very large, very sharp commando knife and draws it across her naked abdomen. He draws it up towards his brand and while it has healed it is still sore so he draws the tip of the knife around the freshly burned skin.

“Lola do I need to remind you that you are my property and that I own you. You have no say in what I do to you.” He asks as he pushes the tip of the knife deeper breaking the skin and drawing blood.

“I know. And I will always obey you.”

Without warning, Ganz strikes her again across the side of the face.

“Lola you talk a good talk but you’re not telling me everything I want to know. Who is Richard Castle to you?”

Lola stays quiet because if she says anything she will probably be beat again. But not saying anything has its consequences too. Shawn takes his hand that’s holding the k-bar and places against her throat tightly, tight enough to make her still any further movement. He, other hand moves slowly down her abdomen and in between her legs. At first, she’s confused this is her boss someone that she never had any type of relationship with other than being her employer. The feelings that she feels now begin to overwhelm her. His hand is doing something that she’s so really needs right now. Friction. Just as she’s starting to enjoy the new-found friction between her folds and making her wet, then suddenly the friction stops and the pain starts. The knife is thrust hard against her throat and he has her pussy lips on fire. He has them squeezed between his forefinger and thumb pinching extremely hard. She doesn’t know which sensation hurts more. Being that she is bound to the table she can’t move to get away from either pain. 

“Lola once you tell me what I want to know the sooner the pain will end. And if you don’t tell me what I want to know your situation will get worse before it gets better.”

Through the excruciating pain, she gasps out that she doesn’t know the man he had mentioned earlier.

Ganz has had enough. He withdraws this hand from her snatch and takes the knife away from her throat. He moves over to the restraints that hold her to the table and releases her from them. He keeps hold of her neck with the knife and guides are over to the slave driver. The slave driver is actually two pieces of equipment wrapped up in one. Since he’s going to fuck the shit out of her he’s just going to use the base of the slave driver and keep the fucking machine off to the side for now. He bends her over into the doggie position. He straps her neck to the middle of the slave driver her wrists out to each side and her ankles and waist as well. With her solid secured to the slave driver he takes the wooden paddle from table and smacks her ass. At first, she holds in her scream. It’s not until the 8th strike when she starts to scream in pain. When he gets her ass to the shade of red he wants, he stops his attack on her. Knowing that she’s practically dripping wet he removed his pants and briefs and strokes his cock. He gets on his knees and hovers around her hole. He knows she anticipates it but he waits.

Lola knows she will be fucked hard. She can tell by the rage he unleashed on her ass. Realizing that she will get fucked and fucked hard she waits for the inevitable. At first, she expects him to just shove his cock right into her. But she is confused as to why he hesitates. Just as she relaxes he thrusts his cock into her cunt. Not being ready for his intrusion she doesn’t even recognize the screen that she released from her chest. The pain is excruciating. He’s like a violent animal. Gentle is not on his agenda. He’s slamming into her so hard that it feels like she’s going to split apart. She just wishes that he would come and get it over with. And in less than a minute later she gets her wish. He released his deep inside her and she can feel his come draining out of her and coating the inside of her legs as it dribbles out.

“Lola I’m going to leave you with a little gift. One which I know you have a very intimate knowledge with.”

She’s unable to move her neck to see what’s behind her. But what she hears is a sound she’ll never forget. The machine whirls to life and in no time, it’s penetrating her asshole. After its adjusted and locked in place, Ganz leaves her to suffer.

“Lola, maybe you'll remember something for me soon. But until then, I'll let you enjoy your new friend.”

 

She hears the door slam from behind her. She won’t last longer than twenty minutes with having her ass fucked. All she can do to relieve the pain is to keep his name in the front of her mind, one she knows well. Richard Castle.


	30. Chapter 30

She’s in agony. His name is repeated over and over in her head does very little to stop her from feeling the hard rubber cock pushing in and out of her ass. The lube wore off about fifteen minutes ago and now it’s just constant pain. The way she’s positioned on the slave driver, during each insertion into her asshole hurts more than the last. She needs this to stop. She can move her butt cheek a little to the left or right between each intrusion. The machine is not as anchored as secure as he thought it would be. She can just get the sole of her foot next to the lock on the wheel and push the machine back if she can just get a little bit more leverage with her foot. She moves her foot to position it against the machine’s wheel and gives it a solid push back even though it’s only about half of an inch. But it does the trick the machine moved back just about an inch and now the rubber cock is now hitting her right butt cheek. While she has temporarily relieved the pain in her ass, she still strapped to this damn slave driver. She wants to give up but just as she thinks she’s met the end of her rope, a hand covers hers. There’s no way she can look up to see what or who it is but then that same hand is releasing her neck from the strap that’s holding her to the top of the slave driver. She’s able to look backward and see who has released her from this contraption.  
“Gary?” 

“Lola, I couldn’t let you suffer anymore I’m sorry I didn’t get here before I knew what he was going to do but I just found out after seeing a glimpse of the surveillance camera in his office.”

The machine that was once pounding in her ass is now shut down by Gary he motions her to get up and try to walk away over to the chair at the end of the table. She has no luck at all moving her body. Her legs are like rubber and she can’t walk at all let alone a step. She falls to her knees and just sits there. Gary comes overtakes her into his arms and carries her over to where the chair is. She really wants to ask him who this Richard Castle guy is. She knows him from somewhere but she just can’t figure out who he is. He’s got to have some meaning to her. So, she’s going to casually bring up his name and see what Gary knows.

“Lola, for now just sit here and collect whatever strength you have. We’ll talk just give me some time to find you something to wear.”

She looks down at her naked form and forgot all about being naked. Her tits are perky and for a second she gets the idea that Gary wants to do more than talk. Her heart speeds up in her chest beating wildly because her ass hurts, and she’s vulnerable sitting here in nothing but her birthday suit. She doesn’t want a repeat of what Shaun did to her earlier. Before she knows it, he is here back in front of her.

“Lola this is the best I could do it’s one of my old army t-shirts and a pair of workout shorts but it’s better than nothing. Just put them on and we’ll talk okay?

Lola puts on what Gary gave her and of course, it doesn’t fit. The t-shirt is too big and so are the shorts.

“Lola, you gotta understand something. Shaun is anal about a lot of stuff. He usually doesn’t let shit get to him but with you, it’s different story and I don’t know why. He has set the bar way too high when it comes to you, your training, and anything to do with furthering you as an assassin. It’s obvious that from this point on you’re probably going to get the shit jobs that he won’t give anyone else.”

“Gary, do you have any idea who Richard Castle is? Shaun mentioned his name earlier and for some reason, it just sticks out in the back of my head and I can’t figure out why. The name sounds familiar but I can’t place where I know it from or who this is.”

“Lola, from what I understand Richard Castle is a multimillion-dollar mystery writer. Now I’m not sure what any kind of association you would have with him being that you work for a part of the Russian government in the United States. I’m not sure of your background, but have you ever worked in New York? That would be the only place where I can see you know him or even heard mention of his name. And that doesn’t mean that you are his best friend or even an acquaintance from what I understand he’s in the paper quite often. Maybe that’s how you’ve heard about him?”

“I've heard the name before but I can’t place him. Hell, I don’t even know what he looks like. I just wish I could understand why Shaun gave me that guy's name.”

“Lola I’m going to give you a warning of sorts. Sean is going to give you jobs in the near future and these jobs are going to be clear-cut assassinations. But he’s taking away your long weapon and you only have your short weapon until you get to the airport in LA for defense. Once you’re there assessing the job, you’re going to have to think of a way to take the mark out without a weapon. He’s testing you. He wants to see if you can use some other means to get what you need to get done. So, while you might not have access to a weapon, you will have access to other things in your arsenal. Weapons I’m sure that you know how to wield.”

Gary just looks easily down at her pussy ever so quickly.

She second she sees Gary looking at her pussy, she knows what he means. She’s not against using sex or the allure of sex to get to a mark but she doesn’t need to do that when she can have her hands on a weapon and get the same result. To her, it’s degrading. Sure, there are some assassins who use that and only that but that’s not her. But if he thinks that Shaun needs her to prove she can do this to pass this test oh, she’ll do it.

Shaun shifts uneasily in his seat on the private jet. He always hated landings, they were the worst. Takeoffs not that much, landings forget it. He hadn’t been laid in God knows how long. Getting his rocks off with Lola’s wet juicy pussy was something he really needed. But now he needed to send her basically weaponless into her next job she does not have the luxury of weapons whatsoever with the exception of one knife. He would see exactly what she could do to get the job done. He has to laugh because he knows that the detective liked cock in her old life. The alias that he created for the detective/Lola, could swing both ways. He just doesn’t know which way this job will take her. And it just happens that her next mark is a female. We’ll see, he thinks to himself, yeah, we'll see.

Xx

She’s back in her room now because Shaun is nowhere in or around the compound. Gary helped her limp to her room put her in bed and pulled the covers over her. She’s really got to admit that he is a nice guy, just not the kind of nice guy she would spread her legs for. She told him that when Shawn did this to her prior to earlier today she knew he had a doctor on call and she was wondering if he could get a hold of him and get him to make a house call because she really needs him. She dozes quickly after making her request for the doctor to come and check her out.

Xx

Dr. Yates stands over her battered body at the side of her bed. What he does for this man should be a question of morality in his mind. He’s been here three times now to see her and every time he does return she’s in worse condition then the last time he was here. As he takes her in, he sees that she looks troubled while she sleeps. He wasn’t sure but it seems that she has never been exposed to this kind of treatment before. To him, she seemed wholesome after his first visit. What he sees before him now is someone who’s been hardened by what this man is doing to her. He pulled down the blanket exposing her abdomen area. He hasn’t been here to check on her branding since the last time. He wants to make sure that there’s no infection and that the branding is still healing. 

She moves a little when he pulls her t-shirt up. He inspects the brand and sees that it’s healed. He can’t understand why Ganz would do something like this. He didn’t brand his other assassins in the same location. They were branded on either their shoulder blade or the upper chest area. Male or female receive the same brand in the same location. As he looked closer at the circle of the brand, he sees the remnants of what was part of a purple something? He can’t quite tell what it might have been at one time which makes him question who this woman actually was. He knows that she was not an assassin before he got here to look over her injuries from her second punishment. No, she’s someone who had a life before this. Someone who he has converted to do his dirty work for him. And he is intrigued. But he will keep his mouth shut because the money that he is being paid outweighs the wrath of this man’s fury.

“Lola, I need you to wake up for me. I want to look over your latest injuries and make sure that you are okay.” Dr. Yates says as he gently shakes her shoulder trying to stir her out of her sleep.

Lola comes to consciousness slowly. Her ass still hurts. She needs to get something for the uncomfortable feeling.

“Dr. Yates, you made it.”

“Lola, what happened here?”

Lola looks around quickly even in her sleepy state not being totally awake she does not see Gary anywhere in sight. Dr. Yates looks like a man who can be trusted but she isn’t sure because he is on Shaun’s payroll.

“I was being punished for something I had done. While it was wrong, what I did or at least in my employer’s eyes, the punishment he saw fit to impose on me did not fit the crime he claims I committed. But he is the boss so…”

Yates is beyond pissed off. This is wrong and he knows it but he has a job to do and he will get her back to being where she was before this happened.

“I'm guessing that this was a punishment that was sexual in nature, correct?”

“You'd be correct in your assessment Dr. Yates.”

“Right. Lola I’m going to need you to get out of the bed remove your shorts in your shirt so I can do a quick exam.”

Lola does what she’s asked. She rises out of the bed painfully but she does get up. She removes her shorts and her t-shirt. She stands there naked in front of him. As he pulls on his latex exam gloves he notes again the branding that has marked her for life. He takes in her overall condition notices that there are new bruises along her ribcage that have been given to her sometime in the past. The bruises are passed yellowing purple-ish stage and are probably healed. Overall, she looks healthy.

“Lola, since I see no evidence of a vaginal assault, I’m guessing that this was an anal one?”

“Again doctor, you be correct.” She says.

“Very well. What I need you to do now is place your body back on the bed on your hands and knees with your posterior facing me so I can look at the damage done.”

Without question, she does exactly what he told her to do. She’s in position on the bed he takes out a flashlight and quickly and hopefully painlessly he inspects her anus. He’s appalled at what he sees. There are tears and even large rips in her skin that must be painful. He thinks that there is nothing he can do other than allow her to rest. He does have a salve that will aid in her comfort due to the fact that there is a 15% mixture of Lidocaine in the salve. This will numb some of the pain from the affected area. The only real problem he sees is when she needs to have a bowel movement. Because he can only think about what was shoved inside of her as painful, relieving herself of solid waste will be just as bad. He finishes with the exam and tells her to get redressed and sit down across from him.

“Lola, you have tears and rips on your anal muscle. What I’m going to do is give you a tube of salve that contains a small amount of Lidocaine. This will numb the area until it has the time to recover naturally. So, for now, I’m going to ask you to stay off your feet, preferably lying down for the next four to five days. Having a bowel movement will be painful. Just keep that in mind so you will try not to eat solid foods in favor for a more liquid diet. Things like protein shakes, water, and juice would help greatly with your recovery time.”

“Dr. Yates I appreciate what you’ve done.”

Dr. Yates gives her a look that could possibly be mistaken as concerned. But not necessarily a concern for what happened here today, but more so he knows something about her that she doesn’t. She won’t press the issue today but in the future, she knows that she will talk to him again. Because she knows Shaun will do something stupid in the future to punish her requiring him to return.

Xx

Sean stands at the desk in his Los Angeles office. It’s been awhile since he’s been here, two weeks to be exact. He looks at the report that he’s been studying for the past 15 minutes and he can’t believe what he’s reading. It seems that Richard Castle and his detectives in crime at the 12th Precinct have decided to take matters into their own hands once again. They’re getting too close and he does not want to be found out by anyone on the East Coast let alone associated with any law enforcement agency. He was always careful to keep a low profile, and he’s not going to become exposed now. No, if Richard Castle wants to stick his nose where it does not belong that he will make sure he won’t stick it into anything ever again. It will take some time but he will never see the light of day again. He thought that the warning he gave him with his daughter would be enough to curb his interest with Detective Beckett. But apparently, he has thrown caution to the wind and decided to investigate her disappearance even more stubbornly than before. It’s just that now with him being too close he has to pay. And he will pay for what he's done with his life. It’s ironic, to say the least, and he can only guess how shocked he is going to be when he sees her looking down the barrel of a gun aimed directly at him. Because yes, he will send Lola/detective Beckett to complete this task and he will lift her weapon restrictions so she can kill him with ease. And it will be something that he will never expect coming. The ironic part is that the person he’s trying to find will be the one to find him and put a bullet in his head.


	31. Chapter 31

Russell Ganz has been working non-stop on a plan to eliminate Richard Castle once and for all and thinks he has something that will fit the bill. But before he plans any further, he has something up his sleeve for his greenhorn assassin. 

Her next mark is a knockout. She has been stealing cash from her company for years now, and the owner of the company has watched as his purchasing department was bleeding money. At first, he had never considered that Joy Maru could do such a thing. But now that he had irrefutable proof of her guilt. She needed to be dealt with. He had called one person who could eliminate this problem. It would be expensive but he was promised a solution. He had never dealt directly with this “fixer” they have only conducted business over the phone. His payment was made to an offshore account never touching a U.S. bank. He did find it odd when the contractor had asked what her body was like, hair color, and how big or small breasted she was, and her sexual orientation. Thinking that this was just something he wanted to know he told him that she had many women friends in the past but he thought that they were just that, friends. He knew that she dated men but, he had always seen her with women. It wasn’t until later in her posting to the department she is now in, that he noticed seeing her exclusively with one red-headed woman. At that point, he knew that she was attracted to members of the same sex. She currently was not seeing anyone at this time.

Xx

Ganz had everything he needed from his temporary employer for her demise. Lola would be using her charm and her allure on this job. He'd see if she could do the almost impossible. He had known women who could possibly walk up to a cold woman, a woman who had no interest in meeting another lesbian and become her best friend and lover in a matter of minutes from first meeting them. 

Xx

He takes care of the last-minute business that he has to take care of and when he’s finished, he would catch a flight back to the compound. Then he’ll give her the news of her next job. With this settled, he now sets his sights on Richard Castle. He has to make it look like an accident so while he wants to give her the opportunity to kill him she’s going to have to go in with a weapon, something he can’t deny her of. She needs to go in disguise as well. He'll spot her from a mile away, and with his luck, Castle will find a way to convert her back to her old self. He would be destroying all the work he set up that get her into this mode he has her in now. Of course, he’ll recognize her facial features, but with the proper wig and, some really good makeup and a theatrically placed scar on the side of her cheek or forehead, he won’t recognize her at first so easily. And this is when she will act and take him. Just as he realizes who is there to kill him, her job will be complete. He just wishes he could see the look on Castle’s face when the assassination is carried out realizing that he was killed by his former muse. 

Xx

His flight back is something that is always uneventful. He knows people who make a lot of money, more than himself. Even he himself has an excess of 300 million dollars. To him, this is disposable cash. It will no way impact the money he had for emergencies in case something ever goes sideways with what he has now. He has had his eye on one of his friend’s private jets for sale. It was a Gulfstream G650. And he just reduced the price. It was an older Gulfstream but one that was recently updated with new avionics, new interior, and could sleep 6 comfortably. High-speed data and engine upgrades were performed giving the plane a Gulfstream factory warranty. His friend was only asking 9.5 million for it so he thought why not. If he did get it, it would be less of a hassle getting around the country than flying commercially. He takes the keys from his pocket and opens up his car and drives back to the compound. By the time he gets in it’s late, almost midnight. He lets Gary know what’s going to happen with Lola.

It’s been seven days since I’ve been gone and her ass is probably well healed by now. So, he told Gary to put her through morning drills from 5 a.m. to 7 a.m., have her fed, and then meet her in his office by 8 sharp. He walked into his office at 7:45 and takes care of what little paperwork there is to take care of and starts reading over the file for her new assignment. Joey Maru. She was born in Cedar Rapids, Iowa and worked her way up the company ladder. But not with the current company she’s with now. Before this, she worked with the steel company that transported steel across the country. She had been in charge of the transportation office and then was moved up to transportation coordinator for the whole company in a very short time. The owner of that company thought she would stay until she retired. But the lure of the company that she’s with now with better benefits and pay sealed her fate. She was offered the position where she was now as a trial type of job at first. For 90 days she had to prove to the company that she was capable of doing the job and produce results by cutting corners, save the company money wherever possible. At first, she was exemplary in the performance of doing her job she saved the company hundreds of thousands of dollars. Somewhere along the line, she thinks that she is entitled to taking more than she is being paid. So, she plans out a way to take what wasn’t hers. It started off small at first but then it snowballs into something she couldn’t control. She was to the point now where she was taking over $25,000 to $30,000 a month thinking it was undetectable. But she was wrong. The owner hired a very good forensic accountant, hired by an outside firm was sent in to go over the books without her knowledge. What he found was simply amazing! She had been embezzling money for the past seven and a half years. And the owner never knew it.

There was a hard knock on his door, and Ganz looked up from the file he was reading.

“Lola, come in, it's good to see you. So, I’m just curious to know if you remembered the name, Richard Castle? Does this name mean anything to you? And believe me when I tell you that I won’t hesitate to shove that cock back up your ass again if you lie to me.”  
Lola shuddered at the thought, but she would be honest with him. Again.

“Shaun, the only connection I have with that name is what I read in the paper. He was always on page six and he was always an arrogant playboy. So other than that, I do not know him nor do I want to.”

“Fine. Lola. For now, I will believe you. But we have more pressing business at hand. Has the doctor looked at your ass?”

“He has. And I'm back at one hundred percent now.”

“That’s good news, Lola. What I have planned for you now is something simple but it could be something hard for you.”

Ganz pulls four pictures out of the file and places them in front of her and asks her to sit down.

“Lola, study these pictures. The woman in them is your next mark. But there is a slight hiccup in the way you’re going to assassinate her you’re going to do it weaponless. The only thing that you’re taking with you is a K-Bar military knife.

“Just a knife will be it? No other weapons?” She asks confused.

“No, I'm afraid not. This job you will need to rely on your wit, allure, and your sexual temptation. She is a lesbian at the current time she has no playmate to speak of so you will get in close to her. You’ll be her best friend you would treat her as she wants to be treated. If she wants you to suck her tits then you will suck her tits. If she wants you to go down on her you lick her pussy till she screams with pure ecstasy, then you will eat her out and love every second of it while you do it. This is a very important mark Lola, she needs to be dead. I’m not telling you how or when to take a mark, but I would take her done sometime during the time she is in the throes of her orgasm. I think that this is when you should take her life when she least expects it, but at least let her get her rocks off first, let her go out with a bang!”

Lola giggled a little at his comment. She has never been with another woman, but how hard can it be she’s got the same equipment as her mark and she knows what makes her feel good, so she’ll just use it on her mark it should be easy. Yes, of course, she’ll do the job that’s the even easier part, but getting close to a women is something she hasn’t experienced and doesn’t know what will become of it.

“Shaun, I don't know why you'd even doubt me or my skills. I'll get the job done.”

“Lola, if you are successful with this contract, the next job that I have for you will be worth five times your fee.”

All she can do is sit there and stare at him. Must she have heard him wrong maybe he meant to say twice her fee?

“Yes, Lola you heard me correctly I will pay you 5 times you’re fee, if and that’s a big if you can successfully pull off this job I’m sending you on now.”

She can only sit there and stare at him. She can’t believe what he’s offering her.

“So, if I were you, Lola, if I were you I'd get to study this file. This way you’ll know your mark inside and out.

Without being told again, she is up out of the chair and pulling the file off his desk. 

She studies Joy’s life and finds that she was always attracted to redheads and brunettes. Lola had half the battle won. She reads on and finds out that Joy loves to be dominated. This is also good for Lola. Because she can be a very dominating bitch when she wants to be. Joy loves to be fucked hard in the ass, and Lola has first-hand knowledge when it comes to being ass fucked, she can strap on a cock and fuck her as good as a guy could. Yeah, she'll go down on her to get her good and wet and feeling great, then mount her and fuck her ass senseless.

Of course, there will be satisfaction on her end too. Lola will use a double ended dildo strap-on and please her twat at the same time. Maybe this will be a new experience for her.

Her flight will be a short one in duration LA to San Diego. Gary had dropped her off at the airport about thirty minutes ago and she has been through the TSA screening process. She waits across from her gate watching everything around her. Soon, the flight is called to board and she’s in her seat in first class. The flight is so short all she can get is a cup of coffee and what looked like a Danish. After landing, she rents a higher end car from Enterprise, an Audi A8 will do nicely to impress Joy she thinks. She drives to her hotel not that far from where Joy lives. She figures that she’ll pose as a buyer for a major office furniture company and get her talking about work first. Then she’ll start with a little innocent flirting. Simple things at first, a soft touch to her hand, a gentle brush of her breast against Joy’s shoulder, and she will give her a very seductive look when she does do this. She hopes that the signals she is sending will be returned. 

Before checking in to the hotel she drives by Joy’s house. She has done very well for herself with the money she is embezzling from the company she worked for. Yeah, works for because she has not killed her yet! Oops, small over sight. She thinks to herself.

Xx

She reports to Joy’s office first thing the next morning. She goes through the motions of saying that she’s here trying to make a sale to look good for her new company she just started working for. At first, Joy is cold towards her. But as their meeting moves on she becomes more open to her and Lola, of course, makes that completely know by returning the same warmth to her. By the time she makes the imaginary sale, Joy has decided that she wants to have a lunch date to seal the deal. Lola seen this as an advantage for an opportunity on her part, she agrees to the lunch date.

Lola insists on driving the Audi to their lunch date taking Joy with her on a very interesting ride. She’s immediately in love with the car and all its amenities. She let’s Joy lead when they arrive at the restaurant. They order simple basic food nothing too expensive and Lola wanting to become her new best friend decides to pick up the bill when they’re finished. When they return back to Joy’s office, plans are made for dinner and some down time on Saturday night. It’s Thursday and now Lola can plan everything she needs to plan to take her out on Saturday night. She will kill this woman then because the next job waits, and it will pay well!


	32. Chapter 32

Since Lola has the time to explore around San Diego, she decided to do just that. She leaves her hotel and visits the USS Midway the aircraft carrier that served during the second world war. She is amazed at what was once in the second world war is now here under her feet. She takes the two-hour tour and learns a lot. When the tour is over, she heads over to Balboa Park. While she is there she sees a lot of people just simply relaxing. There are children running around screaming happily, happy that they are doing it outside instead of in their house bothering their parents. Before she knows it, she looks at her watch and she has been at the park for three hours just walking around the park. It is quite large possibly one of the largest parks in San Diego.

Xx

She decides on Italian for dinner. There’s a new place that just opened up in the Mission District called Juniper and Ivy's. It’s rated at 4 and a half stars and is a restaurant that caters to authentic Italian food. She makes a 6 pm reservation.

Xx

After taking a shower back at her hotel and changing Lola drives to the eatery. After studying the menu, she decides to order the Wagyu short rib. The food is very good and she finishes off the meal with coffee and a small piece of carrot cake. Leaving the restaurant, she needs to head back to her hotel and place a very enticing and sexy call to Joy. She pulls up and parks the Audi and gets out. She returns to her room after checking if there are any messages at the front desk for her.

Xx

Sitting at her kitchen table Joy thinks about Lola. At first, her disclosure that she liked women was well hidden from her. When they went to lunch yesterday she had revealed more of herself to her and she liked what was said. She knows that being with a woman is a lot like being with a man, and different at the same time. Women are softer, know what they like to please themselves and let their partners know. This is why she can’t get Lola out of her mind. In her dream last night, she had dreamed about their lunch date and then their lunch date resulted in not going back to her job, but instead, they went out and Joy showed her the town. They quickly found an attraction to each other and before they both knew it they were back at Lola’s hotel and Joy was feeling great as Lola started licking her pussy. Not to be selfish, Joy had hinted that she wanted Lola to plant her pussy right above her mouth in a 69 position. She did and soon her room was filled with a very satisfying moaning coming from both women. She is drawn away from her musings when her phone rings. She studies the caller ID and sees that it is the woman that she can’t get out of her mind.

“Hello.” Joy says in anticipation.

“Hi Joy, it’s Lola. Am I bothering you?”

“No, not at all. What’s up?”

“I just wanted to thank you for coming out to lunch with me yesterday. I had a great time.”

“So did I Lola, and I can’t wait until Saturday night!” Joy wants to say but instead, she says,

“As did I. Are we still on for Saturday night?”

“We are. Should I bring a bottle of wine?”

“That would be great. So, is six okay for dinner?”

“Yeah, do you need me to bring anything else?”

“Just your appetite, and I don’t mean for food!”

“Uh huh, someone’s horny!”

“That word doesn’t even begin to cover it. I’ll see you tomorrow night lover.”

“I can’t wait. Night Joy.”

“Night Lola.”

Ending the call Lola has mixed feelings. She has never been with a woman, but she welcomes the new experience that will likely unfold tomorrow. Who knows maybe she’ll like it. She takes the lone weapon from her overnight bag. Shaun had it sharpened for her right before she left LA. She pierces the pillow on the bed and the knife makes a clean cut through without issue. She will be doing this again, but instead, the blade will pierce into warm soft flesh. 

Xx

Saturday arrives and she wakes to a brilliant sunshine filled the day. She showers and gets dressed in a sexy outfit. She walks to the nearby spirit and wine shop to pick up a bottle of wine for tonight. After searching for a good merlot, she finds one that should put Joy in a really good mood. She buys two, hoping that her choice is a good one.

Xx

By the time she returns back from the liquor store and gets ready for her date tonight it’s almost time to leave. She grabs the bottles of wine and the small desert that she picked up along the way back to the hotel. She hops into the Audi and sets off to leave for Joy’s house. When she arrives, Joy is actually glad to see her. She feels a little guilty that she has to take her life but a job is a job. Joy has created something that must be from a family recipe. What she smells when she enters her house is nothing other than delicious. They sit, and they eat and they share the wine that Lola has brought. She was right in selecting this type of wine because after the first hour the first bottle is empty. The second bottle is cracked open and it is half gone by the time Joy sits next to her on the couch.

“Joy, please tell me you have some more wine to drink? I do like this wine but seeing that it’s almost gone we’re going to need something else.”

”I have a dry white that we could drink. And it is very good I have had it on several occasions.”

“Well, I guess that you'll have to get that and pour us some.”

“I'll be right back Lola.”

Lola takes the knife from her purse quickly and places that between the cushions of the couch not sure if she’s going to be able to use it now but at least it’s there.

When Joy returns back with two glasses of wine Lola graciously accepts one. Before long Joy puts her wine glass down on the end table. Lola can feel Joy’s hand touching her breast. And before she can react Joy has her hand on her right tit playing with her nipple. If Lola didn’t have to take her life, she would actually enjoy this because it’s quite pleasurable. But she’ll play the part. Lola not wanting to have Joy feel left out, slips her hand into the waistband of her jeans. By the time her fingertips reach her throbbing pussy, she can tell she’s already well past wet. So, without wasting any time, she places her lips on Joy's lips. What she feels is something she’s never felt before. Joy has the softest lips that she’s ever kissed.

They’re make out session lasts a little longer than she expected. Joy worked really fast to get what she wanted. And what she wanted was to be fucked so bad that Lola was down to practically nothing in a short time. Joy loved the fact that Lola had small tits. It was like an attraction to her she never stopped sucking on her nipples. Lola loved the attention Joy was giving to her breasts. So much so that her fingers we’re splitting the wetness of her pussy lips egging Joy on. It wasn’t long after that when Lola and Joy were stripped down to nothing. Deciding that the couch was the least of the places that they wanted to have sex in, they moved to her bedroom. Lola decided to take charge. She told Joy to lie down on her back. When Joy obeyed her command, she roughly grabbed her ankles and spread her legs wide. Lola not being the ashamed to see another woman’s cunt quickly dove in and started pleasing Joy with her tongue. It didn’t take long probably because Joy had not had sex in a long time, but Lola’s tongue had her coming quickly. Her body was twisting and turning beneath her mouth. So, to keep her locked in position Lola placed her hands on her hips and forced her ass down to the bed keeping her stationary so she could eat her out.

“Lola, please don’t stop!” Joy screamed.  
Hearing Joy wanting more Lola stuck her tongue deep into her pussy. So deep that she could feel her cunt muscles gripping around her tongue. And then out of the blue Joy squirted all over Lola’s face. 

Not wanting Joy’s come to go to waste she quickly moves up and plants a kiss on her lips giving Joy satisfaction the tasting her own come. And Lola is not done yet. She flips Joy onto her stomach props her ass straight up in the air and starts to finger her asshole. Before Lola knows it, Joy is coming again. She’s amazed by what she can do with just a finger stuck up her ass. She turns Joy back onto her back quickly places her own pussy over Joy’s mouth. The sensation of having a woman stick her tongue between her own pussy lips is amazing and nothing that she has ever felt before. Lola is soon screaming out her first orgasm. She was right when she thought about having sex with a woman, it was so much better. For the next hour, Lola and Joy get lost in each other. They try different positions, and when Lola thinks that Joy has seen it all, she pulls out her strap-on dildo. 

“Lola, what are you going to do with that?”

“First I am going to fuck you like you should be fucked, then I am going to shove this dildo so far into your ass that you’ll be screaming and asking me for more!”

“Mmm, now that does sound delicious.”

Wanting it more than ever Joy lowers her hands and Lola sees that she has both hands pulling apart her outer lips apart in anticipation of the very long and very wide black dildo coming towards her hole. Lola decided to plunge the dildo right in without any warning. The gasp that Joy released was one of sheer ecstasy. She’d expected slow and gentle, not fast and rough.

Lola was relentlessly punishing Joy’s slit, but at the same time, she was feeling great as well. The dildo she has selected was pushing her that much closer to her own orgasm. The short but so effective double headed dildo was working better than she had hoped it would. It hit her special place with almost every thrust into Joy’s pussy. She was close as was Joy but she wanted to come with her lover at the same time or close to the same time she did. She watched as Joy’s face started to change. Then her eyes rolled back into the back of her head and she placed the palm of her hand to cover her mouth to muffle the sounds of her screams as she came. If she thought about it, Lola comes almost as hard as Joy did. She could not help but to scream out in her total release after she did her arms could not hold up her weight anymore and she collapsed on top of Joy. She felt her lover wrap her arms around her torso and hold her lovingly. Lola just welcomed the embrace.

Stated and satisfied both they lay on top of each other. She knew that time was short and she needed to get her head straight. She pulled the dildo out of Joy’s pussy, wiped it clean of her pussy juice and then turned her over. Applying a massive amount of lube to the clean dildo she spread Joy’s ass cheeks apart to gain unrestricted access to her asshole. Teasing her at first to get her used to the intrusion, she placed the tip of the dildo right against her hole. Starting in a small circular motion she gently pushed the tip in slightly. Joy relaxed her muscles and the process became easier. Lola starts to drive the dildo into Joy and she is really enjoying the act. She sees that Joy has become aroused by what she is doing and starts to rub her clit with her hand in unison with the pounding she is getting at her asshole. Now is the time for Lola to strike. But instead of using her knife she decides to snap her neck. On a downstroke into her ass, she places both her hands on each side of her head and twists it hard. Her body falls limp and Lola stops pushing her hips into Joy’s ass. She has a feeling of caring that she is now dead. She was a woman, a woman whom she had a great sexual experience with and it had awakened something in her that she wants to have again. She rolls her over and sees that her eyes are still open. She gently pulls her eyelids down closed. Knowing that she should leave as soon as possible, she removes any trace of her being in her house. She does have the decency to pull the sheet up over her naked form giving anyone who sees her that she looks like she is asleep.

Xx

Lola returns back to LA and takes the car in long-term parking that Shaun leaves there for all his assassins to get back an forth to the hive. She makes the drive in short order and reports directly to his office, where he waits with Gary at his side.

“Lola, I take it that you were successful?”

“I was. The job is complete.”

“Good to hear. Your fee will be deposited in the normal fashion.”

“Thank you, Shaun.”

“Now that you are done with this job, I am going to have Gary tell you what you are going to be doing next.”

“Lola, since we’ve put you into service you have been good at what you do. Now that you’ve shown us that you can adapt to any situation, we are going to send you to New York City. You will be spending a lot of time there.”

“Why, if this is a target then it should be an in and out. Right?”

Shaun tells her,

“It’s not one target. I originally told you that you were going to get paid five times your normal fee for this job. New information has come to light and these targets have been moved up. They need to be eliminated sooner than I thought, so I am going to pay you ten times your fee for this. ”

“What you’ll need to do is spend time in New York getting all the intel on these two marks that you can. After that is done you need to take them out. There will be no delay between finding a weak link in their habits and eliminating them.” Gary adds.

“Alright, so who are these targets?”

“The files are in your room. Study them and we’ll talk more tomorrow.”

Lola gets up grabs her carry on and heads to her room. From the doorway, she sees the files and sits down to read them. She pulls the first one and studies the picture. He is a Latino, about 40, black hair and looks like prior military. Moving to his printout she looks up his name. Javier Esposito. She reads on to find out that he’s single and his mother is his only parent alive. He should be an easy mark. The second file she reads is that of some guy named Richard Castle. He looks like he’s nothing special and she might be able to take him first because to her he looks predictable. Something that she welcomes from an easy target. This will make her life easier. But this will all wait until she gets to New York. She will study these two and she will take both of them out….


	33. Chapter 33

By the time she started to become too involved in these two targets she stopped and took a break. She’d been surfing the web and many other sources to find out all she could on these two for days and realized that there were times when she needed to step back and reset.

This was one of those times. She had found out that the cop she was going to kill had been a sniper in the Army Special Forces. Her first thought was how fitting it would be for a sniper to be taken out by a sniper the way he used to take out a target in the Army. She found that she was okay with that. The second target was turning out to be more challenging. She needed to make a statement when she eliminated this guy there was just something to be said for a man who is always on page six.

She hears the knock and Gary opens the door walking in.

“Lola, you need to take a break. Come with me and we’ll get something for lunch.”

She had to admit that she had been in these files for the better part of the last week, so a break it was.

“Okay, Gary. What is the chef making today?”

“Last time I checked, it was just lasagna.”

“Hey, I like lasagna.” Lola said.

“You would! I think that you have a thing for the chef.”

“Gary!! Seriously. The guy is about twenty years older than I am.”

“And your point being?”

Lola could only look at him like he was crazy. It was what she needed, a break and he gave it to her. They ate and talked about nothing in general. He did ask her what it was like to be with another woman, to which she replied that it was very nice but that she did kill her.

Getting up and clearing their garbage away from their table, she did have one question for him.

“Gary, why does Shaun have such a hard-on for this Castle jerk? I mean he’s just a writer why is he so concerned about him to go all out and have him eliminated?”

“Long story short… This guy took something from him a long time ago. Now it’s payback time.”

“And I’ll be the payback. These guys are clowns. But if he wants them dead who am I to argue.”

“That’s the spirit, Lola!”

Xx

She spent the next couple of days finding everything on these two. The cop was easy. He had a thing about honor and she’d use that to her advantage. The writer, well he worked with the cop she was going to eliminate. Sometimes. It seemed that they had enough of him hanging around and bothering them, so his services were not needed that much.

She pulls out the pictures for the cop and sees that he looks average. Shaun is able to get the most recent pictures of the targets they are going to take out. She files the pictures back into the info the file and moves to the writer’s file. He looks just as average as the cop. Tall, blue eyes, brown hair, he looks like he lives the pampered life. This is something she abhors. No one person should be able to flaunt money around so easily like he does. He donates to various causes, but he wastes just as much cash on fast cars, booze, and women. So, there is no compromise here, he is selfish. She pulls out the additional pictures and she stills at the image in front of her. She knows that she has seen these pale blue eyes before. She just can't remember where or when. She looks more into this young girl and realizes that while she is being raised, or was raised by the writer she is more independent than he would like. This has her mind already swimming with possibilities. They could always use a person within their ranks that could be an asset. The only problems she can think of that come to mind are Shaun and Gary and logistics. She’d need to be tactful about how this was presented to them. 

Lola reads more on Alexis Castle/Harper. She finds out that she had been kidnapped about a year and a half ago. Her father had gone to France to get her back and Lola was sure that the kid had close to what she thought of as Stockholm syndrome. But the fact that she was recently held captive about three months ago fuels her idea even more. This could be an advantage or a disadvantage. But it was something that she’s sure that Gary could work with.

She speaks fluent French and can write it and read it. She also had dabbled in Serbian, Italian, and Greek. She could get by if she was lost in those countries, but that was about it. Having a plan now in effect she had to stop reading about this woman. She picked up the file that she had composed and left her room to talk to Shaun and Gary.

Xx

“Shaun, this is taking a big risk, don’t you think?” Gary said.

“Think about this Gary! I will have everything that he held near and dear to his heart. I’m sure that whatever happens to her after she’s ours will not be that thoroughly investigated. They’ll have their hands full with trying to find out who took him and his cop friend out. It’s the perfect payback! I'll have the woman that he loved and his daughter.” Shaun said greedily. 

“Let’s rethink this first. If you want her that badly let’s do it right.”

“What do you have in mind Gary?” Shaun asked and Lola listened intently.

“We set her up. Get her out to the west coast before Lola works her magic.”

“How? What could she possibly want to come out here for? She’s a New Yorker born and raised.”

“Tsk, tsk, tsk Shaun. And you say you’re smart? Think back. She is applying to colleges and I know for a fact that she had applied to Stanford, UCLA, and SDU. This is how we can grab her. She’ll never know what hit her.”

“Lola, I need an honest answer from you.” Shaun asked.

“Okay, what is it you want to know?”

“Would you be able to train her the same way that Pavel has trained you?”

Lola thinks back to Pavel and his techniques and how she was trained and tells him after hesitating a bit,

“I don’t see why I couldn’t. If she has a knack for the weapons, then I’m sure that I could.”

“Gary, get a hold of her schedule for the time she is here in Cali. I want her!”

“Shaun, standard protocol? Or something more?” Gary asks.

“Hold on a second Gary. Lola, are you all setup? Do you have all your background work laid out for the cop and the writer?”

“I do. When do you want the hits to go down?”

“Take the cop at his apartment. Leave no traces on the round that you use. As for the writer, make a show of it. The bigger the better. I think I read somewhere that he is having a book launch party that fits in with our plans and timeframe, doesn’t he?”

“He does. The rooftop venue on the 14th. The Roof Garden Bar at the Met on Fifth Avenue is hosting it. But the shot will need to be perfect. There will be only one chance to do this.” Gary confirmed.

“Why?” Lola asked him.

“There are buildings around, but not many that are that tall. The nearest one is over a half of a mile away in distance.” Gary told her.

“Lola, can you take the shot and make it count?” Shaun asked.

“With adjustments for wind and arc of travel, I don’t see a problem here.”

“That’s my girl! Lola, take him there in front of everybody. One shot to the head, I do not want him to survive this! Fly out commercially and I will have the private jet waiting in Teterboro for you when the job is complete.”

“Understood.” Lola says and turns to leave to book her flight and to research the venue he will be at.

Xx

Two hours later…

“Ganz, why did you want to wait to talk?”

“Gary, are we are going to reprogram Castle’s kid? The only advantage that we have is that she is young and was never associated with law enforcement so this needs to work perfectly. Can she be trained to kill?” Ganz asked.

“I think that she’ll be a better candidate then Beckett was. She’s fresh and wholesome two things that will make it easier to wash her brain. That and the new cocktail I have thanks to modern chemicals.”

“Modern chemicals? There’s something new out there now?”

“Yep, there is, and now I’ll get to try it out to see how good it is.”

“Use the standard methods we used on Beckett. Cold/heat extremes, music, the works.”

“Naked?”

“But of course. Humility plays a big part in turning her into who we need her to be. Oh, and I want more than standard protocol when you locate her. I want he followed using two teams in a rotating drill until I give the word to snatch her. That's what I wanted t tell you when Lola was still here.

Gary rubs his hands together knowing that he’ll get to have some fun…. And soon!


	34. Chapter 34

Lola had flown commercially as Shaun had asked her to, but in first class. She never flew anything less. Somewhere over the Rockies, she was thinking about the cop that she needed to eliminate. What she would do was take her time and study his routine and find out all about him. Studying a hit file is different than actually seeing his daily progress. Things in life change and this is nothing that you can predict by reading a file. 

Touching down at JFK, when the plane reaches the gate she already had her carryon bag from the overhead bin and waits to exit the plane. Her weapon was shipped the day before she left LA and she knows that it will be there waiting for her when she gets to Shaun’s safe house in Brooklyn. After a thoroughly good cleaning and check to see that it is operational, she’ll head to Manhattan.

The cop lives on the upper west side. The area is well-known for his culture. Great places to eat and to let off some steam although she doesn’t think that he does much of that. He had a lady friend he was interested in, but that fizzled out quickly after it had started. She wanted a commitment and he didn’t. She suspects that he gets himself off a lot and if that’s true, this will be like shooting fish in a barrel.

She hires an Uber car to take her to Brooklyn and when she arrives she tells the driver to wait knowing that what she needs to do won’t take that long. Walking into the safehouse she sees the weapon still in the crate it was shipped in. She goes over the weapon carefully and cleans it. Everything is in perfect working order.

After she checks in to the hotel in mid-town she makes a list of tasks that she needs to do before carrying out the hit. She gets a shower, orders a quick bite to eat and when she's done eating, she goes to sleep knowing that tomorrow morning will be very busy. The second she lies down she is asleep. Jetlag combined with the lack of sleep the night before is the culprit. 

Xx

Javier Esposito sits in his reclining chair watching the Knicks play the Mavericks on his small Vizio 24-inch TV and he's less than happy. The Knicks blew a 28-point halftime lead and are going to lose this game with less than forty-five seconds left. He raises his beer and takes a long draught draining the bottle. His hand drops to the almost empty six-pack at the side of the chair and he cracks open another Budweiser.

The game comes to a conclusion when the Knicks turn over the ball with 1.3 seconds left. Disgusted, he flips the channel to the Rangers game that still has a quarter left to play. After watching for about five minutes, he turns off the TV and heads to bed. Tomorrow he will have to deal with his partner’s bitching about his married life and Castle’s ongoing theories about what happened to Beckett. 

Xx

Lola wakes well rested and takes a shower. The hot water loosens her tight muscles from sleeping the wrong way in bed last night. She finishes her shower and gets dressed in jeans and a white blouse. She will do some recon to find out how and where the cop goes during his day. It’s just shy of five thirty when she leaves her hotel to head to his precinct. When she arrives near the 12th precinct she takes up a position across the street. She finds an apartment that is available for rent and quickly lets herself in the front door. From two floors up, she can see everything going on below. She watches as the night shift beat cops come in from their patrols and the day shift arrives to relieve them. She notes the time in a notebook and watches again. Around seven am the day shift beat cops leave to go on their patrol routes and all is quiet for another twenty minutes. His partner the Irishman arrives at 7:28 am. She notes this and adds a side note that says: he cuts it close to his 7:30 start time. 

Her target drives up a little recklessly in an unmarked Dodge Charger and double parks alongside a meter maid’s vehicle. He rushes out and heads into the lobby of the precinct. She notes this too with a side note as well: Late for work by 19 minutes.

She stays put until lunchtime, then she leaves the apartment and stands on the sidewalk behind a bus stop. When she sees them both head to the car and take off she quickly raises her hand for a cab and one pulls up while she still has an eye on the car. She follows them to a hole in the wall diner called Remy’s. She should have known they were rushing out to go to lunch. She tells the cab driver to take her to The Met. She’ll place her windage flag somewhere inconspicuous and get a layout of the rooftop venue to prepare for her hit to take out the writer.

Reaching the Met she pays the driver and leaves the cab. She takes a walk around the building starting at 5th ave. and walks South to 84th street making a full rotation walking along East drive to the 79th street traverse and ending back at 5th ave. She notices that the escape routes are few and most of them are blocked from the outside by garbage that has been placed in front of the doors. Something that will slow down the panic-stricken guests when she takes out the writer. Better for her because there will be no way for them to spot her anyway. Entering the ground floor, she has free run of the place. Security cameras are in place and she turns her face away from their view. Climbing the stairs, she sees no cameras in the stairwell and continues up the 22 floors to the roof. Exiting to the roof there are many places to plant her windage flag, but it needs to be in a low-key location. She paces out the distance from the third bar closest to the podium. She mentally calculates that it will take him somewhere in the neighborhood of 12 to 17 seconds to reach it when he leaves the bar. If she has him figured out like she hopes she does, this bar is where he will spend most of his time before he gives his talk about his latest book. Finding the best spot that is well hidden she attaches the windage flag to the top of the tent pole that shields the end of the bar from rain if necessary. A stiff breeze blows across the rooftop and she eye’s the flag on the pole. It’s working perfectly. She makes a pass around the rooftop and finds it odd that there are only two ways to get off the rooftop. The stairway she came up and the elevator, there should be more egress points. 

On her pass around the rooftop, she comes to the 5th avenue side of the building. She scans the adjacent buildings around the Met and finds two possibilities from where to fire. One building that fits the bill is on Madison and 84th and the other is on 5th avenue. It’s an apartment building that has a doorman. This is the least of her choices. Tomorrow after her recon of the cop’s habits she’ll look into its usefulness. Now she needs to get back to the precinct to see when he leaves and what he does after work. She hails a cab again.

Xx

By the time three days go by she has the cop’s habits pretty much committed to her memory. He leaves his job between 5:15 pm and as late as 7:00 pm. Unless he is on an actual case this is his norm. She will watch him until Friday when her first five days here are done. She leaves the apartment building stairwell that has given her an unobstructed view of his living room window and heads back to her hotel. When she gets back to the hotel she checks the front desk for any messages and has none. She will need to send a text to Shaun to see where he and Gary are for the abduction of the writer’s daughter. Timing will need to be vital now because she needs to take the two of them before either can find out that his daughter was taken. She gets to her room and strips out of her clothes to take a shower. She’ll send the text later, but now she will get all this New York city filth off her body. This city is nowhere she could ever live. People are rude, the place is dirty, and it’s cold here. 

Xx

Ganz sees his phone light up and skitters around on his desk. Pulling it up he reads the text from his employee in NYC.

“Cop is ready. The writer will need additional three days to confirm last minute details for the book launch. Is Saturday go/no-go?”

“Gary, where are we on the team that’s following Castle’s daughter?” Shaun asks.

“Right now she’s heading to UCLA. This was her second stop. She’ll be there for two days before moving on to SDU.”

“Take her tomorrow afternoon. I want discretion used when the team takes her. Make sure of it. I don’t want any word getting back to Castle before his book launch happens.”

“Done. I’ll call them now.” Gary replies.

Ganz picks up the phone and sends a reply back to his assassin. 

“Do it!” It’s short but the hits will go on as planned for Saturday night.

Lola feels her phone vibrate in her hand and unlocks it to read the message. 

“Do it!”

It is all she needs to see and she starts finalizing her plan of when she will take out the cop and the writer….


	35. Chapter 35

Her recon was finished. She had nailed down the times the writer would arrive at the book launch party and she had a pretty good idea where he would hang out while he was there. The cop was becoming a thorn in her side. His daily schedule was harder to pin down. She had his departure time from his apartment and he was pretty much consistent most of the time leaving around between seven and seven-fifteen a.m. every morning. When he came home at the end of the day, well there lies her problem. Twice during the week, he visited the Irish cop at his place and they played Assassin Creed Syndicate for three hours. After they were done he made his way over to a bar that he frequented for another two hours. His arrival times were scattered all over. The only thing that made sense was for her to find an unused apartment or someone who was away, commandeer said apartment close enough to take him out and just wait. She wakes early on Saturday and hires a car to bring her to Brooklyn. While she waits for the car she showers and dresses for the short ride to retrieve her weapon.

She arrived in Brooklyn and made sure that she was not followed. Leaving the car waiting she told the driver to open the trunk and stay in the car. Getting out she enters the safehouse and picks up the case and returns back to the car, deposits the case in the trunk, and gets back in. The ride is over quickly and she enters the apartment building. Security cameras are not a threat because there are none. Entering the building across from the cop’s apartment building she decides to shoot from a higher angle making sure that her first and only shot counts. She does not want to take a second shot. She takes the elevator to the 9th floor and finds an apartment that has newspapers piled up at the door. She takes the chance that whoever lives here has been gone for a while and hopes that they will be gone for the rest of today. After entering the apartment, she has eyes on his living room. The distance is less than 20 yards. The round she plans on using is a Winchester magnum .300 caliber. The velocity it will have when it hits the glass will be somewhere around 2545 feet per second the travel time should be less than 1 second. She looked around the apartment and was relieved to see that whoever lived here would not be back until late Sunday according to the calendar hanging on the fridge, so she had the entire run of the place. She pulled her case open and started to assemble her weapon.

The AR30-A1 makes a loud snap, crackle, and pop. She’d need to be quick enough after she took out the cop to have her weapon broken apart and back in the case before anyone knew what had happened. Now all she had to do is wait.

Xx

She had the vantage point and she knew it. If she could count on one thing, it was the fact that assassins never looked up in their sweep of a target, and would use this as an advantage against her.

She looked down from the cops apartment building and watched her. She knew what was going on and would stop what she was going to do. Her only hope is that she knows it’s for her own good. The Russian takes up a position, raises her weapon, and sights her target in. After watching for a while she realizes that she’s so careless. If it was her in this position she wouldn’t let so many variables be exposed. She’s in someone’s apartment and that’s never a good thing anybody could come to the place a delivery person, a mailman, a newspaper boy, a neighbor anyone could expose her to who she is. And it’s obvious that she’s here to take out the cop there is no other significant target here she could be after in the building across the street. She is too predictable, so predictable that she was most likely never taught that no matter who the target is, you always need to look up from your hide. Taking out civilians, you become lax in your routine. You forget the simple things when setting up your target. Not once did she look up towards where she was, giving the Russian the perfect shot.

The day drags on and she hasn’t moved from her hide since she got there. She’ll give her credit, oh, she is persistent almost along the lines of her own training. But she kills for a purpose. This Lola/Kate kills because she has no other better calling in her life. Someone took her and converted her to become something evil. She might be able to be saved, she might not. But she would do everything in her power to stop what is going to happen next.

Xx

Flashback to two days ago…

As she sits at the outside café’s tables sipping on an espresso, she can't help to notice how stupid the men behind her are. They are blatantly talking about how well they are doing with their recent successes. They’re talking about it like it’s the grocery list and what they need to pick up and she really can’t believe it. For her, it’s not hard to tell that they are talking about killing people for profit. But then the conversation takes a turn for the worse.

“If everything goes off right, in two days we’ll have another potential assassin in our fold.” Ganz told his table mate. 

“Taking Castle’s daughter is a stroke of genius. Are you sure your techniques will be able to convert her like you converted Beckett?”

“My drug and torture man tells me that it should be a piece of cake. She is young and she very suggestive. So, it should be easy. But we’re going to wait until Castle is just about dead before we pull her from the streets of Los Angeles. I’ve had teams on her since she arrived in San Francisco yesterday. She is very predictable.”

The woman sitting at the table in front of them simply gasped quietly.

“I'd be careful Russell. You might have been able to grab Beckett this way but dipping into the pot twice could be your own undoing.”

“I'm very careful, trust me.”

With their meeting over, they paid their bill and left the café. The short redhead who had heard the whole conversation quickly pays her bill and leaves. She walks up to the cashier while taking out her cell phone out of her jacket pocket and places a call to someone she trusts. Not wanting certain ears to hear her conversation she walks to the exit as the phone call connects. once out on the street she blends in with LA foot traffic.

“There is someone who’s interested in a particular redhead. We need to stop it before it gets out of control.” The woman says into the phone.

“Can you be in position?” The voice asked.

“It will be a close call. Intel is shoddy at best, but I’ll do whatever I can to be there before it goes down.”

“That's all one can expect. Call me when it’s done.” 

The call goes dead and the redhead continues on from where she was heading with a purpose down the street. She starts gathering all the intel she can on a certain red-headed Alexis Castle.

Xx

From the apartment building across from where Lola was, she could see everything. Once she sees movement from Lola she knows that the mark is here. Taking her weapon, she re-sighted in on Lola. She had estimated her weight to be near 116 pounds. And luck was on her side. The apartment she was in must have been hot or very warm at least, so Lola had taken her jacket off and was only wearing a tee shirt. She watched as she sighted in on the cop. She opened the sliding window and waited with the barrel of her AR30 just extending beyond the window frame. The Russians phone rang, of all times for this she thought.

“Yes.”

“When you finished there drop her at location Charlie. Then head out to LA. I’ll contact you before you arrive.” The voice told her.

“Affirmative.” She answered and hung up.

Seconds later the small redhead's phone buzzed and she answered.

“Report.”

“I’m at Van Nuys. She’s touching down in about five minutes.”

“Any issues there?”

“None yet. But I have additional support, just in case.”

“WHO?” The voice said angrily.

“Calm down! She’s a friend from afar and you know her.”

“Ah, the Brit. I do apologize.”

“It's fine. We should be done here soon.”

“When you are I have the Russian heading to you. Make sure that you go dark. Nothing in or out.”

“Affirm.”

Xx

Knowing that she is just about to take her shot, the Russian pulls the bolt back on her weapon and chambers a round. She locks the bolt back in place and sights in on her target. She has a clear field to take her out and she watches as Lola’s index finger twitches on the trigger. She sees her finger tense through her sight and she fires. Watching as the round launches from her rifle she waits as it hits its mark. 

Xx

The plans have been altered. The Brit and the redhead have decided to cut off the crew attempting the same snatch and grab by driving right onto the runway and meet the plane as it comes to a stop. The Brit pulls out a SIG 238 from her waistband and moves to the back of the SUV to cover the redhead. The redhead quickly runs to the plane, opens the hatch and climbs up the ladder. Once on the plane, she sees her objective. Moving to the seat the redhead unfastens her seatbelt and pulls her from the seat moving down the aisle towards the exit door. The Brit on the hand has her hands full. The Dodge Charger that is barreling towards her has no intention of stopping. She raises her SIG and takes aim hoping she won’t need to fire. The car moves faster towards her. The car is within 100 feet and she has no choice left. She aims at the driver’s head and squeezes off two rounds. The first is a tad high, but the second hit him right between the eyes. The car is still coming towards her. she decides to leave and jumps into the driver’s seat of the SUV. It’s then when she notices the redhead running down the stairs of the plane with their objective in tow. She drives over to the plane and stretches across the seat to open the passenger side door. Both redheads get in and she’s stepping on the gas. The Charger misses the SUV by mere inches and slams headfirst into the nose of the plane. The explosion is immense…


	36. Chapter 36

The Brit drove like her life depended on it. By the time they were a mile away the redheaded tornado in the back seat decided that she had more than enough. 

“What the fuck is going on here? Why did you take me from that plane?”

“Listen red, if you want to live you’ll shut up and listen to what I have to tell you!” The older redhead said.

Alexis reluctantly shuts up, but still wanted answers.

The redhead sighed but continued anyway. “You were about to be taken by the two men who were in the Charger that conveniently hit the plane and exploded. They were a team who work for a very merciless man. He was going to take you and turn you into something that you would have never survived.”

“Bullshit! That’s not true, listen I don’t know who you think you are but stop the car now I want out!” Alexis nearly screamed.

The Brit looked over at the older redhead and winked. Then without warning, she stomped on the brakes and Alexis without the benefit of her wearing a seatbelt, slammed into the back of the passenger seat. Pulling over, the two women got out and pulled their spoiled brat out with them. When they were a safe enough distance away the Brit looked at her and started to tell her why they were there. In her British accent, she said,

“Listen to me luv, we not only saved you from a life of misery, we also saved your father and a very close friend of his as well.”

Alexis’ eyes went wide with the statement. As far as she knew her dad was at his book signing party and was safe. Then the older redhead started.

“I know that this is a lot for you to understand, but there was a hit ordered on him. This hit was ordered by the man who wanted you.”

“Why?” Alexis asked in a small voice.

“He wanted to convert you to become a contract killer.”

Alexis just huffed at the statement. There is no way that she would do anything like this. She did have good judgment after all.

“There’s no way that would happen. I would never kill another living thing.” She said adamantly.

“I’m sorry to say that you can. He’s a master of drug therapy, the bad kind. He’ll brainwash you, torture you and eventually you will break. You’ll bend to his every wish.”

Xx

He’d seen it only once before. There was a German who survived the reconditioning, carried out assassinations, and then the attempt on his own life when he became too much of a liability. If he didn’t step in here and now, he is sure that this would have happened to her as well she would eventually become a liability and end up dead.

He knew who she was and he also knew that they had taken advantage of her dead mother using the event in her life to turn her into who sits in front of him now. He also knows Gary’s methods and techniques because he was the one who had trained him in the first place. He was hopeful that he could reverse the damage that his protégé had instilled in this woman but he was not that sure he could be successful. 

He thought about treating her like Gary did by ridiculing her and dehumanizing her, but he decided to try a different tact. Noticing that the drug that his own assassin had used in the form of a tranquilizer dart from the roof opposite the hide she was at was wearing off he called her name.

“Kate, wake up.”

She was still shaking the effects of the drug off and he wondered if her body would be able to stand what was going to happen to it next.

“Kate Beckett, wake up now!”

She moves her head from side to side until she comes to. Looking up at her captor, she immediately makes the demand to be freed from the chair she is tied to.

“Let me go right now!”

“Kate, there’s no need to be in such a rush. We really need to talk.”

“Fuck you! Get me out of this goddamned fucking chair or else!”

“Or else what? You’ll kill me. Even on your best day, you’d never come close to eliminating me. Just remember that.”

“Who the hell are you?”

I’m someone who gives a shit! But it beats the shit out of me why.’

Lola looks at him like she’s sizing him up to get an advantage but she can’t read him and it frustrates her. J

Just then, her perplexed mind clears and she remembers what he called her when she came to. Kate.

“Why would you give a shit about me?”

“Let’s just say that there is a lot riding you staying alive at this point.”

I’m expendable! So, you might as well kill me now I’m ready, and I will never talk.” Lola admits.

God, Gary fucked her up big time. This will be harder than he’d imagined.

“Kate, are you hard of hearing? My end game here is to keep you alive, not to kill you.”

“Why do you keep calling me that? My name is LOLA!!”

“Yes, I know what you have been named. I’m here to tell you that it’s all a subterfuge. You’ve been given that name by an ex-Russian KGB operative. The name Lola has two meanings for him. The first being that his wife was named Lola and second, you had used it as your undercover name when you were in vice back as a cop in New York.”

“I don’t believe you. My name is Lola. I was never a cop. I’m an assassin I kill people for a living.”

“About that, did you ever notice that your boss sent you out on jobs that could easily be carried out by a greenhorn? At any time during your recon did you ever think that the job you were sent to do was too easy? And you were very heavily monitored when you carried them out. There was no way he would let you become who you were before he got his hands on you.”

“Who the fuck are you?”

“I Kate, am your worst nightmare and your best chance out of you making it out of this situation whole.”

Xx

Alexis listens as the Brit and older redhead explain the plot to take her. they’ve told her three times and she still can’t believe that what they are saying is the truth. 

“Alexis, there’s more. And it’s not what you are going to want to hear.”

“Well, I think shocking me is just about covered. So, spill.”

“Your father was going to be taken out tonight along with a detective he used to work with.”

“My dad! How do you know?”

The Brit winks again and the redhead nods to their new guest.

“Because I stopped it.”

Alexis turns quickly and sees a mid-30 something woman. She’s a beautiful brunette, 5’10”, about 110 pounds and has a slight Russian accent. She is physically fit and keeps her body in shape. 

“And who exactly are you?” Alexis asked the newcomer not really wanting an answer.

The redhead raises her hand to stop the Russian from talking because she’ll be the one to tell her.

“Alexis, this is Elena Markov an ex-Russian spy, standing next to you is Hayley Shipton, formerly of MI-6, and I my dear are your step-grandmother. My name is Rita.”

Alexis looked at all three women and came to one conclusion and then she told them exactly what she thought.

“Every one of you are insane…


	37. Authors Note

This is not a chapter posting! 

I have received many comments here on AO3 about how this story should be written by the people reading this story. I, foolishly enough, did what they asked and abandoned the path I wanted to bring this story in. Now after thinking about what to write for this story, it will be taking a much different direction.

There will be X-rated smut, but not as much as there was in the beginning of the story. People will die, and others will live. In total this story was never intended to be written past 25 to 30 chapters.

The next update I will be posting will be next Sunday, Christmas Eve. The 37th chapter has been written, deleted, rewritten, deleted again and as of right now there are less than 150 words. It’s hard to take this the way I want to after I have already written what has been written in the last 36 chapters. 

Please be patient with me creating this small world I am writing is not as easy as you think.

To the guest who posted this comment "Hi, if you're done with this story please let us know. Thanks." I will never leave a story unfinished. I might have a tough time with life and work, but I will always finish what I start.

P2P


	38. Chapter 38

He’s becoming paranoid now. The grab at the Van Nuys airport has been all over the news. Not what his guys were doing there, they’re dead, but the news crews arrived at the scene to show the burnt-out shell of the Charger they were in.

He needs to control this situation. Knowing that the grab went sideways at the airport he decides to call his second-best assassin. She should be well on her way to killing the writer by now. He dials and waits…

Xx

“Alexis Castle, we just saved your life! Insane is the last word you should use to describe us.” Haley said.

“Listen red, while we might have been a little rough on you, we did save your life. But now that we have you, you can’t be far from us. In layman terms, you are stuck with us for the duration. The Stanford tour you were going to attend is now canceled indefinitely.

“Listen, lady, I don’t care who you are. Whatever kind of scam you're trying to pull here, it won’t work on me.”

“Alexis, this is no scam, someone really wanted to take you and use you for doing very bad things. He would have converted you without even thinking twice about it.”

“Converted? How?” She asked.

Elena tells her about Ganz/Shaun.

“Mind control, drug cocktails, self-mutilation, rape, sodomy, dehumanization, and torture. And that only names a few because I’m sure that he has a lot more that I don't even know about.” The Russian told her.

“Where are we going to now?”

“For now, nowhere. This safe house near Monterey will be fine for now until we hear from him. We’ll be safe here while we wait.”

“Wait? For what?” Alexis asked.

“Not what, but who. The person who saved your father’s life.”

“Wait, what!! I thought that she just saved his life?” Alexis said pointing to Elena.

“She stopped the hit. But there is someone who put all of this together and put us in place to stop it from happening.” Rita tells her.

“Alexis, this was a plan to take out three people in a precise military operation their timing had to be critical. And it was only stopped by our teams.” Haley adds.

Alexis thinks about what has happened in the last three hours. She can't believe that there is someone who would want her for what they say they want her for. That's just too hard for her to believe. But then she thinks back to the scumbag who held her hostage and sliced her chest over a year ago. Maybe she should listen to what they have to say.

Xx

He pieces together enough of his GPS history to determine where most of his locations are. Now that he has it narrowed down to a town northwest of Los Angeles Gray has a call make. One that will be hard for the person he calls. He dials.

“Rick Castle.” 

“Castle, Gray. I have a possible location for him. I'll be going to LA on the red eye.”

“How in the hell did you find him in such short order when I spent more money and hours getting no results.”

“Castle we've had this discussion before. I'm CIA.”

“Is my daughter safe?”

“Right now, I have three of my best with her. After I get to LA and decide what action can be taken she stays put right where she is.”

“How is Espo?”

“He'll survive. He was lucky that your girlfriend was hit just as she pulled the trigger. It threw off her aim and hit him in the shoulder.”

“Gray, the second you get there I want him dead.”

“Whoa, there Castle, what you want and what will be done are two totally different things. Your demands take a second seat to what we need.”

“Bullshit! I want him dead.”

“Not going to happen, Rick, get that through your thick skull. Speaking of thick skulls, I’m sending Hunt to try to get her back to who she was. Not that sure that’ll work but do you want us to proceed?” Gray asks.

“How long will it take?”

“It depends on how far her mind is bent. But from what I have witnessed so far, it might take about two to three months to get her to something of what she was. There are no assurances. 

“Do it. I’ll make sure that it’s funded.”

“I’ll call you with updates.”

Xx

It’s been two days and he can’t believe what he is reading on the Richard Castle website. He had a massive turnout for his book launch for the latest Nikki Heat book. According to the site, his party went on until three in the morning and he left with one of his cop buddies from the twelfth. This should be impossible because he’s supposed to be dead. 

He has had no contact with Lola. And he can’t seem to find the writers daughter anywhere. He knows that she was on the private jet in Van Nuys but after that, there has been no sight of her anywhere. Lola has not answered her phone since this shit went down. He had sent out four teams to find out anything and they have not been heard from since.

He can only speculate about what might have happened in New York. The cop she was sent to take out somehow knew that she was going to take him out. It is plausible because he was or still possibly is a sniper himself. He would have noticed her if he had any idea of the coming hit. If this didn’t happen it leaves him with two alternative assumptions. The first he thinks about and while it could be true, he’d need to dig a lot into his own syndicate to find out if it could be true. The second idea makes him think that while this has been a lucrative way to increase his net worth, it just might be time to start liquidating this part of his enterprise. Having your staff of highly trained assassins picked off one by one would be very bad for business. 

Xx

“KATE BECKETT!!!”

“My name is LOLA!!!”

“Correction, your name was LOLA!!”

“FUCK YOU!!”

This had been the norm for the last five days. He would tell her her real name and she’d come right back and deny it. He was trying to gauge how badly her mind had been fucked up but from where he’s gotten now it looks like this just could be the challenge of his life. He’s never seen a subject so hell-bent on believing who she was. Whatever Gary had come up with it’s nothing that the agency has ever used before.

“Kate, I am here to tell you that everything that you know is a lie. The stories that you seem to believe are all fabricated to fit your narrative. You were born in New York City, not a small town outside of Ozersk named Kasli. You were never a Russian operative. The last and only time you were in the Soviet Union is when you were an exchange student and traveled to Kiev.”

“Bullshit! I’m Lola, I eliminate people who deserve it. I am an assassin.”

“Yeah, about that… You’ve never actually killed anyone. You might have thought that you did, but I’m here to tell you that you’ve never taken another life for a profit.”

Jackson could see her start to waver over what he was telling her.

Xx

Lies! They were all lies. He was lying to her she was an assassin and she knew it. There’s no way she was ever a police detective with the city of New York. She needs to figure a way to get out of this mess before he does anything to her. But in the back of her mind, there is something about this man that she can’t quite put a finger on. If this was another time and place she would definitely think him to be an assassin as well. He just had that look about him.

Xx

Jackson knew it was going to be a long and drawn-out process to get her back to where she was before they took her. He needs to use drugs, but he necessarily does not want to rely on them. To start with he doesn’t know what they used on her. He has a cocktail he could use but it could be detrimental to her minds recovery. He needs to make more of an assessment as to her abilities. Lola is dead to him. Kate, on the other hand, should be able to retain the training that she was subjected to when her conversion to Lola was complete. So, he will see what she can do. Since the time Kate has been here, she has had free reign of movement. She was not strapped to a table, stripped naked and abused. But there is one thing he does need to check and it’s going to be very embarrassing for the both of them.

“Kate, I’m going to prove to you that you are not who you think you are, that you are someone’s possession. I’m not trying to be a sexual deviant, but I need you to drop your pants down to your mid-thigh and raise up your shirt.”

“You’re a pervert! You sick sadistic son of a bitch I am not taking my pants down in front of you.”

“Kate listen, I can prove to you that you are the property of Russell Ganz. He is the one who had converted you to what you are now. Show me a little faith here I’m not the kind of man who takes advantage of a woman.”

Reluctantly Lola searches his face for any kind of hint that he would try anything and finds nothing. She turns around facing away from him and unclasped the button to her jeans and unzipped her zipper. She folded down the left side of her jeans and raised up her shirt.

“Kate if you book right above your left hip you will see an R and a G branded into your skin vertically. This is the brand of Russell Ganz. He is a highly sought-after fixer. He has people eliminated who cause other people problems. There’s more to your story than I can tell you right now, but your reconditioning will require heavy drugs in order to get you back to where you once were. Do you trust me now?”

“I’m still not sure.”

“Acceptable.” Jackson drops into a crouching position and Kate automatically counters his move even if he was not going to advance on her. Jackson rises as does Kate. Jackson raises his hands to defend himself as if he was going to be hit. Without her even knowing it he strikes his arm out to her head and she counters it with little effort. Dropping to his left hand keeping his body horizontal he swings his leg towards her to kick out her legs from underneath her by pushing for power with his right leg. Or at least he tries. She counters the move by jumping up and landing back down after his leg swept through where she should have been. Jackson who is now at a disadvantage by being supported by his left hand is quickly thrown onto his back with Kate keeping her knees pinned to his shoulders. Her fist is drawn back ready to strike at his head. He could have answered the move but decided against it to show her that he was not going to strike and that she was trained in hand-to-hand combat.

“Now I know you’ve been trained by an ex-CIA operative. Nowhere on this Earth could you have learned that from anybody else."


	39. Chapter 39

“Let's say that I do believe you. Why exactly would this person Ganz take this Kate in the first place?”

“I'm sure he has his reasons. But I can guarantee you that they have a lot to do with Richard Castle.”

“Who in the hell is Richard Castle?”

“Richard Castle at one time was your partner at the 12th precinct. He helped Kate Beckett solve crimes when she was a detective there.”

“I keep telling you I’m not or never was a cop. So, Richard Castle means nothing to me.”

Hunt needed to take a different tact. He walked over to the small table, opens his briefcase and he pulls out a file folder thick with paperwork and pictures of Rick, Alexis, and her father Jim.

“Kate, I’m going to show you some pictures. At one time these people had meant something to you and it’s my hope that they still do.”

He pulls out 6 pictures to start with. They’re mostly all headshots. The first one is Kate and her dress blues, and he looks up and gets no response from her face. The second one is of Rick and still no response. He pulls out Martha’s picture next and her eyebrow raises but he is sure she does not recognize her. Then he pulls out Alexis’s picture and the look he sees on her face is one of that he wants to explore some more. He goes back to the file pulls out a picture of her and Alexis together when they were in the loft. He places it in front of her and again the same look of recognition crosses her face.

“Kate do you know this girl?” Hunt asks hopefully.

“It’s her eyes. There’s something about her eyes that I recognize, that I know. They look very familiar. In her hair, she’s got the most beautiful red hair I’ve ever seen.”

Hunt takes Rick’s picture and places it beside Alexis’s.

“Kate, this picture here is the father of this girl. The girl in this picture has been looking for you for over a year now. Actually, she and her father have been.”

“But why….”

“Kate, it’s not my place to say but there are people who do care about you and want to know what happened to you.

Xx

By the time his plane lands it is pretty close to 7 am. He must get over to the safe house that’s not far from the airport. He picks up his car and makes his way out of the airport. What he needs to do is get Castle’s daughter back to New York but, he needs to look into her abduction or attempted abduction closer. He might be able to get some clues from some of the evidence that was left behind he doubts it but it’s worth a shot. He arrives at the scene and as he feared everything has been removed from her abduction site. The Charger is in an airplane hangar off the airport property. The plane, not heavily damaged is on airport property and being repaired. Since the airplane was not his first concern, he heads off the airport and into Van Nuys to where the car is being stored. Right now, the plane is not important. What he wants to know is if the transponder for the GPS unit in the car is undamaged. He sure that the information contained within will give him the location of the man responsible for all of this.

After finding the GPS unit transponder is undamaged he removes it from the car. He’ll run the information later after he gets back to the safe house.  
He decides that the plane damage is not that important, and he has what he needs. He makes his way to the safe house. From Van Nuys, it’s about a 45 minute drive.

Xx

“So this is Agent that you’re telling me about who saved my father’s life why is he coming here?”

He’s coming here because there was an attempt on your life. He needs information from you and we felt it best if you stayed safe here, rather than transporting you back to New York. I know that you’re not going to be here for much longer because after you get done speaking with him we’re all going back to New York.  
Xx

All Ganz can see is everything he worked so hard for, just falling apart. He hasn’t seen or heard from any of his assassins on the West Coast. Hell, they haven’t even checked in in over 3 days. Something’s wrong he just can’t put his finger on what it is.

But what pisses him off the most is the fact that he’s neglected his other illegal endeavors and now they are beginning to suffer too. Cash is beginning to dry up and his reputation is in question. Just today three of his areas that are heavy with his heroin sales have been taken over by the Latin Kings. He seriously needs to get a handle on his operations and stop looking for Lola, or at least have someone else do it for him. It hits him then... he thinks he knows who the mole in his organization is.

Xx

“Kate, I can see that you recognize Alexis, and I really shouldn’t be telling you this, but she was going to end up in the same situation you are in. The person who took you attempted to take her and turn her into the assassin that you are now.”

“So you think that I am Lola now?”

“No I don’t Kate. I know who you are, and I am going to bring her home. It will be a long road, but I think that you can be brought back to life as Kate Beckett.”

“What about what I want? What if I want to keep the life I have now?”

“Do you? Honestly now why would you want to live a lonely life? An assassin’s life is just that. Planning the next job, no time for anything else but the next job. Kate, I’ve been there before and believe me it’s not as glamorous as you think it is. Then there is always staying one step ahead of the law. They will always find you. They will always keep looking for a murderer until they exhaust every avenue of investigation. They are relentless in their search, they are a lot like you in that aspect when you were a cop.”

She sits in the chair at the table and thinks about his plan. He’s been truthful to her in everything that he’s told her so maybe he should give him a chance.

“This memory conversion that you want to attempt, how long would it take? And will it work?” Kate asks.

“There would need to be a drug cocktail administered that could reverse the effects of what they gave you in your initial memory wipe. Then there would be another drug that I’d use to try to draw out memories that might have survived in your long-term memory. I need to warn you that there is no guarantee that any of this will work. My only hope is that the memory wipe is still fresh, that will be our only hope.”

“Hunt, is it?”

“Yes, Kate. Jackson Hunt.”

“I’ll give you an answer tomorrow. Right now, I want to think about this. It is a big decision.”

“That’s understandable Kate. But the usual security measures go into effect. The spaces will be locked down as usual.”

“I get it, house arrest.”

“Kate it’s only until we start the conversion. But I am disappointed to tell you that you will lose your freedom altogether once I start this.”

“Can I get something to eat before we lock me in for the night?”

“Yes, I’ll order in. What do you want?”

“Pizza!”

Jackson ordered a pizza and after it was delivered they ate most of it. He wanted to know if she remembered anything from her reconditioning, so he asked.

“Kate, do you remember anything about the man or men who wiped your memory? Anything like a physical description could help me.”

“Well, there was Shaun and Gary. Gary was more of the person who carried out the orders. Shaun ran things. I think he was the guy who wiped my memory.”

“Describe him for me.” Jackson was curious.

“He’s about 5’ 8” 190, black hair, really fit, and he has a scar across his upper chest. A knife wound from a mission he told me.”

Jackson stills at that last bit of information.

“Hunt, what is it?” Kate asked.

“Scar you say? It runs from his armpit to just about his right nipple?”

“Yeah, that’s it exactly! How do you know that?” It’s then that Kate realizes the implication of her statement.

“Because I put it there…”


	40. Chapter 40

“Tell me that there is something we can do here?” a pleading Rick asked his father.

“There is nothing that will fix her Richard.”

The both of them were staring at who used to be Kate Beckett through the one-way glass, only she was no longer that person. On the bright side, she was no longer Lola Black either.

In the three months that passed, Jackson Hunt had bent his own rule he let his heart rule out his brain. The first memory wipe went okay. Kate was becoming more like Kate and less like Lola. Jackson took this as a win, but it was when he was packing up everything when Kate asked if there was a way to get more of her memories back. She had a string that was just barely there and if she could pull it then maybe she’d remember more of her past life.

He told her that they could run the treatment again but it would be a little different. Drugs would be stronger and there would be pain involved. Not physical mind you, but emotional. She had agreed to try it. Jackson had warned her that it could also set her back, it just might wipe out what they had already accomplished. She wanted to do this so the next thirty days went on and the results were good. She was regaining more of her memories back. So much so that Jackson had told his son and his granddaughter that it went well. Once again, he was packing up everything to leave when his son had come to the safe house.

“Richard, what are you doing here?”

“Dad, I’ve been reading up on some other treatments that could help her become who she once was.”

“Richard I think that we should give her some time to get used to what she has now. We don’t want to push her.”

“Dad, I need her back to who she was now not a year from now.”

Not realizing that they had a visitor they heard,

“He’s right. If there is a way to get every one of my memories back, then I think that it’s worth trying.” Kate added.

This is where Jackson Hunt made a grave error in judgment. He listened to his son.

The third time that he did this he had a bad feeling about it. It turns out that he was right in thinking this way.

Xx

They both walk into the room where Kate sat. She once was a very bright woman who solved the hardest cases with the NYPD. Even as Lola she was methodical in her planning of an assassination. Now, she’d be lucky enough to remember how to feed herself again. The third wipe went wrong from the start. They were using drugs that could wipe out all of her long, short and repetitive memories. That is exactly what happened. After the wipe everything was great. She remembered everything from the time she was taken at LAX. Then the next day, when Jackson went in with Rick what they found, was an infant. Not only did she not know who she was, but her mind had shut down and reset itself completely. All her brain could do was give her the basic need to stay alive. She only remembered the basic life support functions. Everything else was gone. No name, social security number, where she was born, who her parents were, how to eat, how to talk, everything was gone. 

He was at a loss about what to do now. He wanted her back so badly that he had played with fire and got burned. He would take her back to the loft and find the best doctors to get her to learn how to live her life again. He would always love her, but he could not make her love him. He knew that in life what we want is not always guaranteed. What he sees in front of him is proof of that. from this point on she would depend on him. To him, she would be a child, not his best friend.

Hunt had some news for his son but decided that his plate was a little too full for him to tell him right now.

Ganz and Gary had been caught about two weeks ago. Gary was caught at the complex by an FBI agent by the name of Gray. He had found out where the complex was and the FBI and local cops had stormed the place. The only downside was that Ganz was not there. He had left earlier in the day. After interrogating Gary, they found out that Ganz was actually carrying out a hit. He was reduced to doing it himself because all of his hired guns had seen the smoke. They knew that his organization was headed down the toilet and left while they still could. 

He was taken into custody without a shot ever being fired at his target. He would beat this. They had nothing on him and he’d be out on bail in less than 24 hours. What he never figured on were his loyal assassins who threw him to the wolves. They told the cops everything as long as they got a deal for immunity. In all, four of them turned on him. He can’t figure out why. They were paid well and had everything they could ever ask for. 

A/N: With this chapter comes the end of this tale. I’d like to thank all the readers who have given their suggestions about what should appear in this story. I was amazed at the imaginations you had at work here! Thank you for reading this, it was at times a hard story to write.

P2P


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